The football World Cup can be overwhelming – 831 players, 32 teams, and four matches daily. Each morning, The Deccan Era will pick the biggest storyline of the day from a pile of clutter.
It’s a showcase
Uruguay vs Ghana (Group H)
Al Janoub Stadium, 8.30 p.m.
On Thursday, Luis Suarez was just as unremorseful as he was 12 years ago.
The Ghanaian journalist at the pre-match press conference didn’t mince words when describing how the country felt about the Uruguayan striker. The journalist started by saying that some Ghana fans thought he was the devil, before asking him if he would apologize.
He replied: “(sic) I did handball the ball, but the Ghanaian missed the penalty, not me.”. Maybe I would apologize if I tackled someone and injured them. But in this case… It’s not my fault. The penalty didn’t go my way. It’s the same for the player who missed the penalty. I don’t have any responsibility for how he shot the penalty.”
This set the stage for a spicy reunion between the two teams that last met at Soccer City in Johannesburg in 2010. In the quarterfinals of the World Cup, Ghana played some breathtaking football to stretch a star-studded Uruguayan side featuring Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan.
When extra time came around, the score was 1-1. After winning a free-kick on the right flank, Ghana whipped in a cross that caused chaos. Dominic Adiyah’s header was well on target after a Ghanaian head flicked the ball toward goal. The Uruguayan goalkeeper missed it, a defender cleared it, and it went straight to him.
As of that point, celebrations had already started inside the stadium in Johannesburg, on the streets of Accra, and all over Africa. The goalkeeper was on the ground and only one man was on the line, so nothing could stop Ghana from scoring the goal that would’ve made them the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals.
When Adiyah’s header went into the goal, Suarez appeared out of nowhere to stop it. A goalkeeper would’ve been proud of that save, but Suarez was given a marching order for intentionally handling the ball.
A continent is shocked
I felt African hearts breaking into a million pieces at that point. There was stunned silence in the stadium and across public screenings in South Africa, where the whole country was rooting for them. Suarez’s audacity seemed to catch the players off guard. The Black Stars couldn’t recover – Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty and they lost in a penalty shootout.
When Gyan fluffed his chance, Suarez erupted into wild celebrations to further antagonize a nation. Known as the ‘Hand of Devil’ moment, it was a reference to Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in 1986.
During a Players Tribune interview, Suarez recalled that moment: “I took a risk in a situation where I’ve been blamed for anti-fair play… I celebrated like that for taking a risk for something that’s worth it.” It was more than a goal to me. There was a teammate on the bench who passed out (laughs). As Juan Castillo celebrated the penalty kick, he passed out. Well, I left screaming (more laughter).
Despite being part of World Cup lore, as Suarez’s question on Thursday showed, it isn’t a laughing matter for the Ghanaians. It still hurts that they weren’t given a chance to make history.
There will be a lot of emotion when they meet again on Friday. We’ll knock the other team out of the tournament if we win. Black Stars have a chance to bury the ghosts of Soccer City and make it past the group stages for the first time since 2010.
Uruguay can pile more misery on Ghana, who’ve been pretty flat in Qatar. Suarez might help them out too.
The other fixtures are:
South Korea vs Portugal, 8.30 pm, Education City Stadium
Match between Brazil and Cameroon, 12.30 am (Saturday), Lusail Stadium
Match between Switzerland and Serbia, 12.30 am (Saturday), Stadium 974
