BY WILFRED MUDANYA & WITNEY FLAVIA KASALIRWE
The black stars of Ghana have in Qatar revenged to Uruguay although they have been eliminated at group stages 12 years after they were denied a place to the semifinals in a dramatic quarter-final match in the 2010 World Cup.
Uruguay beat Ghana but couldn’t make it through group stages as they finished but behind South Korea in Group H. The Agony of South Africa revisited as Andre Ayew misses penalty against Uruguay in the 21st minute after Sergio Rochet’s foul on Mohammad Kudus.
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa in the quarter-final match between Uruguay and Ghana, Luiz Suarez deliberately stopped a goal-bound ball with his hands. Suarez was shown a straight red card for conceding a penalty and then wildly celebrated off the pitch as Asamoah Gyan crashed his spot kick off the cross bar. Uruguay went on to beat Ghana on penalties to deny the Black Stars the chance of becoming the first African side to reach the last four of the World Cup.
Twelve years later, Uruguay and Ghana faced off in a decisive group stage match on Friday 2nd of November 2022 in the World Cup and the winner would knock the other out of the tournament.
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez was in tears after the referee blew the final whistle following what might have been his last international game.
In a pre-match press conference on Thursday 1st November 2022, a journalist told Suarez that sections of Ghana masses describe him as a “devil” and asked if he could apologize to them for his incident during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“I did the handball, but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me,” he responded.
“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. 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,” He added.
Ghana finally got a chance to rid themselves of a nightmare that has gripped than for 12 long years.
The last group stage games of group H were all played today as Ghana faced off Uruguay in a 2-0 loss where both sides were eliminated despite De Arrascaeta striking twice. For Suarez’s side to qualify, they at least needed a minimum of 3 goals but the black Stars’ deadlock couldn’t easily allow the 3 balls in the back of the net.
Five minutes passed quarter the hour mark, captain Andre Morgan Ayew failed to put his side in the lead after missing a penalty kick.
South Korea’s Hwang Hee-Chan gave Korea an injury time victory over Portugal that meant they beat Uruguay to a last 16 place on goals scored since South Korea had needed to win to stand any chance of joining Portugal in the knockout.
But Portugal tops the group H with six points while Son’s South Korea finished second with 4 points.
Uruguay and Ghana are eliminated and this is revenge for the Ghana side for having made it a point for Uruguay not to qualify just like it did 12 years ago.
Portugal will now face the runners-up of Group G, who are currently Switzerland, on Tuesday, December 6 – With kick-off at 7 pm.
South Korea are likely to take on Group G winners Brazil on Monday, December 5 – With kick-off at 7 pm.
