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When Ghana meets Uruguay tomorrow, the Black Stars will likely be out for redemption—or vengeance, relying on the way you have a look at it.
Twelve years in the past in South Africa, Ghana have been on the verge of turning into the primary African staff to make it to the semifinals of a World Cup, the primary within the event’s historical past to be hosted by an African nation. But they nonetheless needed to get previous Uruguay. With the match tied 1–1, the Ghanian striker Dominic Adiyiah aimed a header straight on the purpose late in additional time. The famed Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez blocked the ball, stopping a sure purpose … along with his hand.
Suárez didn’t get away with it. This wasn’t like Diego Maradona’s celebrated “hand of G-d” purpose on the 1986 World Cup, which the Argentine hero knocked in along with his hand with out the referee noticing. Suárez was red-carded and despatched off. But the Ghanian ahead Asamoah Gyan missed the next penalty, and Uruguay went on to win the tiebreaker shootout earlier than shedding to the event’s eventual runners-up, the Netherlands, within the semifinals.
To this present day, Suárez says he doesn’t remorse his determination to make use of his hand to dam the purpose within the 2010 sport. “I don’t apologize about that. I did the handball, but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me,” Suárez informed reporters at a information convention right now. Suárez was responding to a Ghanian reporter who, based on ESPN, informed him that he’s “regarded as ‘diablo’”—the satan—“in Ghana,” and added, “We want to retire you tomorrow.”
Unlike the numerous occasions he’s tried to actually take a chunk out of opposing gamers, Suárez’s logic is simple to know right here. He broke the foundations to get the consequence his staff wanted, however he additionally paid the value, and nobody walked away with enamel marks. Uruguay was merely fortunate that Ghana didn’t take benefit. If Gyan had scored the penalty, Uruguay would have wanted an equalizer enjoying a person down and with out their main goalscorer. Suárez would have ended up hated by his personal followers as an alternative of Ghana’s.
Tomorrow, the 2 nations will face one another once more, and as soon as once more, the loser will go house. A Ghanian victory would mark one other first—they might be part of Morocco and Senegal as certainly one of three African groups to make it to the event’s elimination levels, essentially the most ever. This will even seemingly be the 35-year-old Suárez’s last World Cup as a participant, and if Ghana wins, his final World Cup match.
If you may perceive why Suárez did what he did, then you may as well perceive why the Black Stars would take this one personally. For Ghanian followers, profitable gained’t simply imply advancing to the knockout levels, however settling a grudge greater than a decade within the making.