Uruguay forward Luis Suarez has refused to apologise to Ghanaians for a World Cup incident between the two countries 12 years ago.
The two teams meet tomorrow with a place in the knockout rounds of the Qatar 2022 World Cup at stake, with their clash in 2010 in South Africa back in the spotlight.
Back then, with scores tied at 1-1 in extra-time in the quarter-finals, Suarez handled the ball to prevent what would have been Ghana’s winning goal.
Suarez was sent off and the Black Stars were awarded a penalty, but Asamoah Gyan missed it and the game went into a penalty shootout.
Uruguay won the shootout, preventing Ghana from becoming Africa’s first-ever World Cup semi-finalists, and Suarez has remained a villain in the West African country ever since.
“I don’t have to apologise for the handball in 2010. I stopped it with my hand, they sent me off and Ghana took their penalty,” Suarez told a pre-match press conference today when the incident was brought up.
“I didn’t miss the penalty, the Ghana player missed it. I didn’t make any mistakes.”
Suarez insisted the handball did not cause any player harm, therefore he had nothing to apologise for.
“I can apologise if I made a bad tackle that injured another player. But in this situation it’s different,” the former Liverpool and Barcelona striker added.
“Even the player that missed the penalty said he’d do the same thing I did for his team. It was not my responsibility to take the penalty.”
Ghana are keen on some form of revenge though and a draw could be enough for them to advance, while Uruguay need to win to stand a chance.
The Black Stars are second in the group standings behind already-qualified Portugal with three points, with Uruguay bottom on one point.
If South Korea, who have one point, fail to beat Portugal, a draw is sufficient for Ghana to reach the round of 16.
