There are no winners in revenge missions. Sentiment demanded that Ghana right the wrongs of their 2010 World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay and atone for Luis Suarez’s last minute handball on the line. But Uruguay, and Suárez in particular, have no time for such romantic notions of redemption. Ghana were knocked out again after missing a penalty but had the consolation that, despite Suarez scoring two, it was South Korea and not Uruguay who went through to the last 16 with Portugal.
Uruguay did not react well. As the Ghanaians sat resignedly on the pitch, Uruguay’s players surrounded the idiosyncratic German referee, Daniel Siebert, at the final whistle, furious that they had not been awarded at least one of two major appeals in penalty in the second half. The Ghanaian fans, then resigned to his departure, seemed to enjoy it immensely. And while José María Giménez angered Siebert, Suárez cried on the bench.
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This was a game haunted by the memory of the events in Soccer City 12 years ago, and specifically that moment in the last minute of extra time. The image was always there, a perverse football pity, hovering in peripheral vision: Stephen Appiah in the foreground after having had the initial effort blocked (which was probably offside, although no one is talking about it), John Mensah and goalkeeper Fernando Muslera falling together. with Andrés Scotti, Dominic Adiyiah stretching after heading the loose ball towards goal, Jorge Fucile with his back arched and his left fist up after failing to handle, and Suarez, with his arms out jumping to his right to snatch the ball. It is the Pisgah of African football, the moment it saw the promised land of a World Cup semi-final, but was denied.
Giorgian De Arrascaeta (second left) walks away in celebration after opening the scoring, but Uruguay’s joy was cut short by events elsewhere. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
Billboards in Accra this week depicted the incident with the slogan: “REVENGE!: We support the black stars.” That Ghanaians still feel the pain of that moment was clear in the pre-match press conference. Suarez, with a characteristically provocative sense of spectacle, appeared alone and seemed completely unfazed by a Ghanaian journalist who said that many in his country saw him as “the devil himself” (add “the devil”, for not having -no confusion) and wanted to “retire” it. He had no regrets, he said. He had been punished. He had received a red card and missed the semi-final as a result. It wasn’t his fault Asamoah Gyan had missed the penalty.
Was it an elaborate ending? Suarez had played just 81 minutes in the group stage and had been distinctly unimpressive, with just one shot on target (swayed). But if this was a huge mind game, Uruguay took it to the extreme, naming Suarez as captain. Was this in the mind of André Ayew, the only Ghanaian player from Al Janoub to appear in the 2010 quarter-finals, when he stepped up to take a penalty?
Because, of course, there was controversy about penalties, a lot. How could there not be? Sergio Rochet, the Uruguayan goalkeeper, shot clear at Mohammed Kudus, but André Ayew was initially caught offside. When the VAR showed that it had been played fractionally by Mathías Olivera’s heel, the penalty was automatic. His kick, however, was woeful and was easily saved.
Jordi d’Arrascaeta
Then, shortly before the hour mark, Darwin Núñez went down under a challenge from Daniel Amartey. Siebert didn’t give it to him, was told to consult the screen and, unusually, decided not to overturn the decision, indicating that he had seen a slight touch on the ball. It was a decision that proved vital to Uruguay’s goal difference; if this had been given and converted, they would have passed. Edinson Cavani had another decent screamer in stoppage time, by which time the news had arrived that South Korea had beaten Portugal and the game had turned into a frenzied slugfest, all gone, just one attack after another The other.
For Ghana, who had a two-point lead at the start, the moment had been there, but the moment was lost. There was a sense of inevitability to what followed. Few teams are as good as Uruguay at feeling the emotional pulse of a game. As Ghana reeled, Uruguay stepped up. Mohammed Salisu had already deflected off Núñez’s line when Suárez’s shot was half-blocked by Lawrence Ati-Zigi. The ball was probably spinning anyway, but Giorgian de Arrascaeta nodded over the line from close range.
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Six minutes later, he volleyed home his second after a clever move from Suarez. He may be 35 years old, his belly starting to show under his shirt, but even if he takes a long, long time, there is still magic in his brain and in his touch, and perhaps especially when fans of the opposition make blood.
And the fury, so strangely lacking against South Korea, returned. He infuriated the referees, punched Salisu and put his body in the way of winning free kicks before being taken off after 65 minutes. He had beaten them again.
The devil, perhaps, never truly ends, but this time, it is not enough. A photo of him crying on the big screen drew delighted jeers. Ghana were out, but at least they had taken the devil with them.