Uruguay’s forward Luis Suarez during training yesterday.
An incident involving veteran Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez 12 years ago resurfaced on the eve of their final Group H match against Ghana yesterday.
Uruguay need a victory at Al Janoub Stadium today to have any hope of remaining in contention while a win for Ghana – lying behind group leaders Portugal – will ensure their qualification to the World Cup Round of 16.
Suarez’s deliberate handball blocked a certain goal at the end of extra-time and Ghana’s qualification to the semifinals of the World Cup in South Africa in 2010 and the infamous incident is still fresh in most of Ghanaian minds. The West African country failed to score from a resulting penalty and were eliminated when Uruguay went on to win the shoot-out after scores stood 1-1 after extra time.
“I don’t say I apologise about that because I take the handball but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me,” said Suarez when asked about the incident at a media briefing yesterday.
Uruguay's coach Diego Alonso
Suarez was shown a red card after blocking Dominic Adiyiah’s header with his hands when the ball went past the goalkeeper. For his countrymen Suarez became a ‘national hero’ while for the fans of Black Stars ‘a devil’.
“Maybe I can say I apologise if I tackle and injure a player and take a red card, maybe I can apologise,” the former Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid star said.
“But in this situation I take a red card, the referee said ‘penalty’. It’s not my fault because I did not miss the penalty, the player missed the penalty.”
There have been lots of talk since the World Cup draw was made about a chance for Ghana to seek revenge over the incident and that thought has fired up thousands of African fans ahead of the crucial clash. But Suarez, 35, said there was no point in talking about revenge now.
Uruguay’s players attend a training session yesterday.
“Those that are talking about revenge... were eight at the time, they have only seen it in images,” he said.
“You can’t misinterpret everything. When we played Portugal the players were talking about revenge for being knocked out (by Uruguay in 2018) but you can’t live in the past.”
Uruguay coach Diego Alonso said there was much more at stake for both teams than vengeance.
“I don’t know how Ghana will approach it, whether or not it’s revenge,” said Alonso.
“For us it’s a decisive match, that’s what matters to us. We’re doing the best we can, respecting our opponents, but we don’t view it that way.”
Current Ghana skipper Andre Ayew, the only player left from the 2010 squad, did not want to dwell on talks of revenge.
“Everyone felt bad (in 2010) but for me I just want to get to the next stage,” he told reporters.
“Revenge or not, we would go with the same determination and desire to win because we want to get to the next stage.
“I am not looking back, I don’t want to focus on the past.”
Ghana’s coach Otto Addo
Ghana coach Otto Addo had a different take on the incident and said his players should be ready to sacrifice themselves like Suarez did for the sake of the team and the country.
“If the same incident would have happened the other way around and Ghana would have proceeded to the semi-finals, everyone would have said ‘OK, it’s normal that a player would do anything he can to help his team to go to the semi-finals’,” Oddo said yesterday.
“This is what I wish from every player, to do all he can to help his team qualify, sacrificing himself with a red card.”
Ghana team members huddle during training. REUTERS
Qualification is much more important for Ghana, the coach said.
“It’s not a normal game because the public is making it a different game. But for me it’s a normal game. We want to qualify for the next stage, we surely want to win. For us what happened in 2010 is very sad but we can’t change it. We’re looking forward and we want to win this game.”
Ghana come into today’s match after playing two five-goal thrillers. They lost to Portugal their first match 3-2 before overcoming South Korea 3-2.
Uruguay have failed to impress so far at Qatar 2022 drawing 0-0 with South Korea and being beaten 2-0 by Portugal.
Uruguay have not exited a World Cup at the group stage in 20 years and coach Alonso knows that his team have to lift their game up considerably against Ghana who have reached the last 16 in two of their three World Cup appearances.
“We’re going to use all the weapons at our disposal,” Alonso said.
“We have to let ourselves go. The team has to be relaxed and play.”
“I am confident enough to know that we can win this game,” he said.
When: Today at 6pm
Where: Al Janoub Stadium
Capacity: 44,325
Key stats:
- Ghana have not kept a clean sheet in their last nine World Cup matches.
- Uruguay were unbeaten in five FIFA World Cup group stage matches against European teams prior to their defeat by Portugal.
- Ghana's two group games have featured 10 goals. They were on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller against Portugal but beat South Korea 3-2, snapping their six-game winless run in the World Cup group stage.
- Uruguay, who have yet to score at this year's finals, have only failed to qualify for the knockout phase in one of their last six World Cup appearances.
Previous meetings:
- Their only previous meeting was in the infamous 2010 World Cup quarter-final, when Uruguay's Luis Suarez was sent off for a blatant handball only for Ghana to miss the resulting penalty and lose the shoot-out after the match finished 1-1 after extra time.
