FIFA World Cup 2022: Ghana eyes Luis Suarez 'revenge'

When the four teams were drawn in Group H at the FIFA World Cup, there was only one fixture the entire footballing world was looking forward to with bated breath.

No, it's not a match that involves Cristiano Ronaldo and his superstar team.

Ghana vs Uruguay is definitely the headline fixture of Group H, especially after what happened 12 years ago in South Africa.

'Hand of God 2'

It was a quarterfinal game between the South Americans and the Black Stars, and the game was even poised at 1-1 during extra time. Ghana had a corner and Uruguay was defending in numbers as the Africans were on the ascent. As the ball was played into the box, a goalmouth scramble ensued with both sets of players trying to force the ball in opposite directions.

On this day (12 years ago) .. Suarez's handball against Ghana, which contributed to the qualification of Uruguay.

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As Dominic Adiyiah headed the ball towards the Uruguayan goal, Ghana was just inches away from continuing their fairytale journey in the tournament, which was held in Africa for the first time in history.

But in came Luis Suarez, flapping his hands, as he 'cleared' the ball away from danger. Even before the Ghanaian players could protest the goalkeeper-like actions of the striker, the referee blew the whistle for a penalty and duly sent Suarez off with a red card.

As a distraught Suarez stood in the player's tunnel, almost inconsolable that his beloved Uruguay was staring at an exit, Asamoah Gyan stepped up and crashed the penalty against the crossbar and into the stands. This sent Suarez into wild celebrations as Ghana went on to lose the match, ironically, in a penalty shootout.

Suarez's antics made him enemy number 1 in Ghana and is regarded as a "devil" in the country.

'I'm not sorry'

But Suarez, who fronted up to the media on Thursday ahead of the game, said has no regrets about the match. When asked to address the obvious elephant in the room, Suarez said: "I don't apologise about that, I did the handball, but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me.

"I could apologise if I injured a player with a tackle and got a red card, but in this situation, I take a red card and the referee says penalty.

"It's not my fault, I didn't miss the penalty. The player who missed the penalty said he would do the same [as I did] in that situation. It's not my responsibility in this situation."

However, it's 12 years down the road and Ghana has the chance to get closure from the incident. It only needs a draw to knock out Suarez and Co and progress to the next round, as long as South Korea doesn't do the improbable against Portugal.