Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is at the centre of another biting storm after appearing to sink his teeth into the shoulder of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini during the teams’ decisive World Cup Group D game on Wednesday morning.

Suarez and Chiellini clashed in the Italian penalty area 10 minutes from the end of the match and the furious Italian pulled open his shirt to show the mark to the referee.

Reuters photographs show what appeared to be bite marks on his shoulder and pictures also showed Suarez sitting on the ground holding his teeth immediately after the incident.

Chiellini shows his shoulder to Uruguay’s Gaston Ramirez. Photo: Getty

The Italians were still complaining about it when Diego Godin scored with an 81st-minute header to secure a 1-0 win that sent Uruguay into the second round and eliminated Italy.

“It was ridiculous not to send Suarez off,” Chiellini told Rai TV.

“It is clear, clear-cut and then there was the obvious dive afterwards because he knew very well that he did something that he shouldn’t have done.”

FIFA officials say they are investigating Chiellini’s claim and will wait for match reports before deciding whether to take action against Suarez.

“We are awaiting the official match reports and will gather all the necessary elements in order to evaluate the matter,” a FIFA spokeswoman said.

Suarez shrugged off the claims, claiming Chiellini bumped him in the eye with his shoulder.

“These are just things that happen out on the pitch. It was just the two of us inside the area and he bumped into me with his shoulder, and that’s how my eye got like this as well,” he told Uruguayan television, pointing to his eye.

“There are things that happen on the pitch and you should not make such a big deal out of them.”

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said he did not see the incident.

“I’d like to see the images,” he told a news conference.

“I didn’t see that. And if it happened the referee probably didn’t see it. So no I don’t have any more comments to make. We had more important things than this in a football match.”

FIFA rules allow the use of TV footage to punish players for incidents unseen or unpunished by match officials.

Liverpool’s Suarez was banned for 10 games last year after biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in a Premier League game and in 2010 he was suspended for seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal while playing for Ajax Amsterdam.

Four years ago he missed Uruguay’s World Cup semi-final against the Netherlands after being sent for a handball on the line that denied Ghana what would have been a match-winning goal in the final minute of extra time in a last-eight match.

His latest indiscretion sent the world’s social media into meltdown and within minutes of the match ending #Suarez was the top trending hashtag on Twitter.

A tweet from former Liverpool striker Michael Owen was typical of a wave of reaction from former players and pundits.

“Tell me I’m seeing things. Surely Suarez didn’t bite someone again?,” he wrote.

I’m genuinely gutted. I love watching him play more than any other player but he obviously just can’t control himself.

— michael owen (@themichaelowen) June 24, 2014

Suarez scored both goals in Uruguay’s 2-1 victory over England having missed the opening match against Costa Rica as he recovered from knee surgery and until the incident had kept control of his temper during a bruising game against Italy.

Italy, who needed only a draw to progress, looked comfortable until it had Claudio Marchisio sent off for a foul on Egidio Arevalo Rios after an hour.

Greece progress

In other results, a controversial stoppage-time penalty has seen Greece earn round-of-16 qualification with a 2-1 win over Ivory Coast in Fortaleza.

With qualification on the line for both teams, Greece took a first-half lead through Andreas Samaris – Greece’s first goal at the tournament.

But when Wilfried Bony was on hand in the 74th minute to cap off a fine move, it looked as if the Africans would have done enough to progress.

That was until Celtic striker Giorgos Samaras drew contact with defender Giovanni Sio in the 91st minute, earning the penalty that would ultimately decide the match.

Samaras converted with almost the last kick of the match, breaking Ivorian hearts and earning Greece the most unlikely of passages to the second round.

Perfect Colombia

Colombia confirmed its passage to the knockout rounds with a third win from three group stage games, beating Japan 4-1 in Cuiaba.

A brace to Jackson Martinez and goals to Juan Cuadrado and James Rodriguez sealed the points for the South American team.

Shinji Okazaki scored Japan’s only goal as Asian teams continued to struggle in Brazil.

With the game safe, there was a special moment for back-up goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon as he came on for David Ospina to beat Roger Milla’s record and become the World Cup’s oldest-ever player at age 43.

Colombia will meet Uruguay in the round of 16, while Greece beat Ivory Coast 2-1 to set up a knockout clash with Costa Rica.