Ten Years Down the Line Ghanaian Players Still Holds Grudge Aganist Surez
Ten years after Ghana’s elimination from the 2010 FIFA World, Ghanaian players are still on the opinion that Uruguay and Barcelona striker is a cheat and they will never forgive him for denying them access to the semi-final of the tournament. It was the same time Togo national team was attacked and they lost some of their players in Angola 2010 nations cup.
According to one of the Ghanaian players John Paintsil, he said: “For me, the Uruguay game is a game I think we won.” The Ghanaian player said looking back on one of the most dramatic matches in men’s World Cup history: the 2010 quarter-final between his Ghana side and Uruguay in Johannesburg.
Although he is on the opinion that they won in real sense Ghana didn’t win, they lost in a penalty shoot-out but they would have won the game and the game would not have reached the penalty shoot-out time but, a handball by Luis Suarez stopped a certain goalbound shot deep into injury time, in one of the most controversial and memorable moments of that tournament.
Luis Suarez was sent off after he used his hand to block the ball from going into his net but Ghana skipper Gyan missed from the penalty spot and the game was forced into the penalty shoot-out where Ghana finally lost in the penalty shoot-out. The pain for Paintsil and his team-mate Hans Sarpei still lingers, 10 years on. For many Ghanaians, Suarez is the perpetrator of one of the greatest crimes in the country’s sporting history.
John Paintsil said: “We were cheated.” “To clear the ball from the line with your hand it’s supposed to be a goal.” Ghanaian players spoke of how people still talk about the incident in Ghana. Among the Ghanaian players, one player who also shared in the pain is Sarpei, he said: “I can’t forgive him because it was not an accident.” “He knows what he has done. We were crying and you see someone who has cheated us celebrating. How can I forgive him? Never. Never ever.”
