Luis Suárez does not think to apologise for the handball that blocked Ghana’s way to the semi-finals of the World Cup twelve years ago. “It’s not my responsibility.”
He went rogue against Ghana in the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals when he saved a shot on goal in stoppage time in a fantastic, but obviously illegal, way with his hands. After that, Asamoah Gyan was unlucky as his penalty bounced off the crossbar, much to the delight of Suarez, who ran through the tunnel jubilantly at the time. The game went to a penalty shootout from which Uruguay emerged victorious.
“I don’t have to apologise,” Suárez says a day before a new meeting with Ghana. “If I injured a player, I would apologise. But in this situation I hit the ball, I received a red card and the Ghanaian player missed the penalty.”
In another weird and certainly unethical act Suarez bit Chiellini in the 2014 world Cup. This time, he was handed the striker a nine-cap international ban and a four-month ban from all football-related activities. The striker was also fined CHF 100,000 by world football’s governing body.
FIFA’s justification said the length of the ban – the longest in World Cup history – was based not only on the Chiellini incident but also on Suarez’s previous biting incidents, of which there were two.
Uruguay also tried to appeal the decision, but unsurprisingly it was quickly rejected. However, Suarez was later allowed to take part in training and even play friendlies for his new club Barcelona.
Some Ghanaian fans still see Suárez as the devil himself, claimed a Ghanaian journalist at the press conference at which the ex-Ajax player attended on Thursday. ‘It’s not my fault. I didn’t miss the penalty. It’s not my responsibility.’
Ghana probably needs a point against Uruguay on Friday to secure the knockout phase of the World Cup. A win by South Korea over Portugal could throw a spanner in the works with a draw by Ghana.
