Mexico City, April 6 (IANS): Club Tijuana star Juan Arango faces a strong sanction after biting an opponent during his team's 3-4 defeat against Monterrey in a Mexican league football match.

Venezuelan icon Arango sank his teeth into the shoulder of Jesus Zavela as his temper flared in the defeat on Sunday. The teeth marks on Zavela's shoulder confirmed Arango had bitten Zavala, reports Xinhua.

He was not booked by the referee but could face a heavy retrospective ban.

Arango's despicable conduct brought back memories of Uruguyan Luis Suarez who was banned for four month for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at last year's World Cup.

That earned him his third multi-game suspension for sinking his teeth into an opposing player after also biting rivals while playing for former clubs Ajax and Liverpool.

Arango had earlier curled in a magnificent free kick for his team to bring them level after falling 0-2 down early on in the encounter, but the bite overshadowed the 34-year-old's goal as television cameras picked up the moment of madness.

Arango spent 10 years playing in Europe, spending five seasons each at Real Mallorca in Spain and Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany. He has made 121 appearances for Venezuela.