'We hate him' - Why Ghana want 'revenge' against Uruguay at 2022 World Cup after Luis Suarez red in 2010

Published 02/12/2022 at 07:42 GMT

At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Ghana and Uruguay met in the quarter-finals and Luis Suarez was sent off for keeping out a header with his hands. Ghana missed the penalty and were eliminated by the South American side. Suarez could feature when the sides meet at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on Friday and Ghana might be looking for some form of revenge.

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Ghana and Uruguay will meet for the second time ever in a decisive Group H clash at the 2022 World Cup on December 2.

If the match is half as eventful as their first meeting 12 years ago it won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

On this occasion Ghana and Uruguay face off with a place in the last 16 on the line. Ghana will progress with a win and perhaps a draw, while Uruguay need a win to have a chance.

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In 2010, Uruguay beat Ghana in a dramatic quarter-final that is best remembered for Luis Suarez diving to block a shot on the line and being sent off.

Ghana still feel the pain of the loss and there has been talk of "revenge" in Qatar.

What happened between Ghana and Uruguay in 2010?

A semi-final spot was up for grabs when Uruguay and Ghana met at Soccer City in South Africa.

Sulley Muntari put Ghana ahead, but Uruguay equalised through Diego Forlan and the match went to extra-time.

Penalties looked to be on the cards until some remarkable late drama.

As Ghana pushed for a winner, Steven Appiah had a shot that Suarez blocked on the line with his knee. The ball wasn’t cleared away and Dominic Adiyiah headed the rebound towards goal. Suarez was there again to block, but this time he did so with both hands, pushing the ball off the line.

Even though it was in the days before VAR the referee spotted the clear handball and sent Suarez off. He also gave a penalty to Ghana.

Suarez looked emotional as he walked off the pitch, thinking his diving stop wouldn’t save Uruguay.

“I walked off the pitch devastated," he said in his autobiography Crossing the Line.

"I was crying and the only thing going through my head at that point was, ‘We’re going out of the World Cup, we’re going out of the World Cup …’ I had been sent off and we were going home."

But despair soon turned to delight and Suarez was seen celebrating after Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan fired his penalty against the crossbar.

The game then went to penalties and Uruguay won 4-2 to prevent Ghana becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

'I made the save of the tournament'

Suarez, who started Uruguay’s first game in Qatar and was a substitute in the second, didn’t appear remorseful at his actions.

"I made the best save of the tournament," he said at the time. "Sometimes in training I play as a goalkeeper, so it was worth it.

"It was just instinct. Any player would have done the same - not just me.

“My first reaction was to use my hand. Some people have accused me of a lack of sportsmanship, but I think it's worse if a player suffers an injury when he's stopped by a bad tackle when he's about to score."

Ghana did not see it the same way – and the pain still lingers.

Ghana players during the penalty shootout against Uruguay at the 2010 World Cup

Image credit: Getty Images

“The whole of Ghana hates him and the whole of Africa hates him,” former Ghana defender Ibrahim Ayew told The Athletic ahead of Friday’s rematch.

“We hate him. And we want revenge.”

Even when the draw for the groups at the World Cup was made, before there was so much riding on this final group game, there was a feeling that Ghana wanted payback.

“We believe it will be revenge time,” said Ghana Football Association president Kurt Okraku. “It is important that we all set the record straight.”

Addo seeks blessings, not revenge

Ghana forward Andre Ayew, who is the only remaining player in the current squad from 2010, is looking ahead rather than back.

“I’m the only one who was in the squad when that happened, so the others don’t really know how we felt. Everyone felt bad, but for me I just want to get into the next stage, so it’s not (revenge) for me, no.

“If it was revenge or not, we will go with the same determination and the same desire to win because we want to get into the next stage, so it’s not our revenge. I don’t think so. For me, it’s football. We took a decision. There’s nothing to speak about it. We’re just going to see how we’re going to play versus them and find ways to beat them.”

Ghana coach Otto Addo struck a similar note after the 3-2 win over South Korea.

Will Mohammed Kudus fire Ghana to victory?

Image credit: Getty Images

"I'm not a guy that thinks much of revenge. It was a really, really long time ago that this incident happened and I am a strong believer if you don't seek too much revenge on these kind of things sometimes you get the blessings."

Revenge is obviously not a theme for Uruguay.

Their focus should be improvement in attack as they are yet to score a goal in their two matches at the World Cup.

"For us, it's a different history," said head coach Diego Alonso.

"They are looking for classification, us too. It has nothing to do with what happened years ago."

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