“The Ghana player missed the penalty, not me,” Luis Suarez does not take blame for the handball incident against Ghana in the 2010 World Cup

The World Cup is full of moments of ecstasy, agony, controversies and heartfelt moments. With so many teams involved we get to see a mix of different cultures. But there are some moments which remain as a blot on paper for the World Cup’s glorifying history. One such incident was back in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa where Ghana featured against Uruguay in the quarterfinals.

It was a very intense clash as both teams saw a chance of progressing to the last four of the World Cup. Ghana almost felt that they had scored a late winner when Dominic Adiyah’s effort was going in. Reacting to the situation, Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez handled the ball from going in. It was a big moment in the World Cup as Suarez was sent off and Ghana got a penalty. But unfortunately Asamoah Gyan who stepped up to take the spotkick missed it and eventually Uruguaya went through to the semifinals after winning the match on penalties.

The Black Stars had a great opportunity there to reach the last four and become the first African team to do so. But they felt they were denied that chance by Luis Suarez.

However twee gone by but the incident is still fresh in the Ghanaian minds as Uruguay and Ghana meet again in a World Cup clash. This time again the stakes are high, the winner of this penultimate group stage match will see the other team get knocked out of the World Cup.

However before the important clashin Qatar, Suarez was at the pre match press conference where he heard how Ghanaian people called him ‘ the Devil himself’ and are eager for him to announce retirement. Replying to the incident from 2010, Surarez shared how he feels he was right in his place.

“I did the handball, but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me,” replied the striker. “Maybe I would apologize if I did a tackle, injured a player and took a red card. But in this situation… it’s not my fault.”

He shared how Gyan had the chance and the penalty to send Ghana through to the next round but since he missed it, Suarez feels it is not his fault that Ghana failed to qualify from that incident. “I didn’t miss the penalty. The player who missed the penalty, he would do the same. It’s not my responsibility how he shot the penalty,” Suarez added.

Ghana fought valiantly against Portugal but they lost 3-2 in the first World Cup group stage game. They however came back in the tournament by winning against South Korea in a 5-goal thriller. Now they need a win against Uruguay to progress to the next round. Meanwhile Uruguay could only manage a draw against South Korea and were handed a defeat against Portugal. So they also need to win their penultimate clash to go through.