Doha: It has been 12 years since that match, which became a national tragedy for Ghana. Even today, Ghana cannot forgive Uruguay and Luis Suarez. Ghana is gearing up to make up for Uruguay’s ‘cheating’ as they face Qatar again at the World Cup.
Ghana can reach the pre-quarters if they beat Uruguay in Group H on Friday at 8.30pm. Uruguay, with just one point, will not be guaranteed a knockout even if they beat Ghana. Their progress will depend on the result of Portugal-South Korea match in the same group.
What happened then…
In the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Uruguay got in the way of Ghana due to a foul play. Suleiman Mundari scored a goal in injury time in the first half to give Ghana the lead. Uruguay’s Diego Forlan equalized in the 55th minute. Continuously up to 90 minutes.
With only seconds to go, Ghana get a free kick from outside the box. John Panzil’s kick was blocked by the goalie. The goalie was not at the post when Stephen Appiah got the ball back and took the shot. Instead, the ball was diverted by the feet of Uruguayan striker Lui Suarez, who became the savior of the team. Suarez palmed it away as the goalkeeper, as Dominic Addie turned the ball back onto the post. A suicide that world football will never forget. Suarez was shown a red card for the challenge. But Ghana missed a deserved goal. Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty for handball. It’s not a goal. And with that, the final whistle blew. The match was tied at 1-1.
Uruguay advanced to the semi-finals with a 4-2 win in the penalty shootout. Ghana came back in tears as they were beaten by a well-deserved Jay Suarez. It was Ghana’s first quarter-final at the World Cup. Andre Ayew, who was in the team then, is now the captain of Ghana. “Everyone has a sense of loss about the events of that day. But not thinking about it now. The goal is to get the team to the pre-quarters,” said Ayu.