No sympathy for the 'devil' as Ghana take Uruguay out with them

It had all gone so right for Luis Suarez. He’d set up two but now Uruguay needed another and he was stuck on the bench, falling deeper down into his jersey

Fri, 02 Dec, 2022 - 20:15

Joe Callaghan, Al Thumama Stadium

Ghana 0 Uruguay 2

No sympathy for the devil.

There had been a symphony for him though. Luis Suarez had left the field with 25 minutes left and been serenaded by those in powder blue massed around Al Janoub Stadium. The Ghanaian fans didn’t have the heart to boo as lustily as they might have. They were just happy to see the back of him.

But with two minutes to go, here he was again, on the stadium big screens. And when they saw him now, they went wild. The booing and jeering reached the roof and Suarez pulled his jersey up over his face to hide.

Suarez had put Uruguay in the perfect position to progress but Son Heung Min, somewhere across another side of this town that has played host to unceasing group stage drama, had other ideas. Korea’s winner against Portugal meant it was now going horribly wrong for Suarez, when it had all gone so right. He’d set up two but now they needed another and he was stuck on the bench, falling deeper down into his jersey.

The goal never arrived and so the tears did which sent Ghanaian fans wild again. What a peculiar evening. The Africans had arrived here in the best position to progress but were going home yet their fans were cheering. Uruguay had hauled themselves up but now were down and out too. They were chasing referee Daniel Siebert down the tunnel, furious over late penalty claims.

Through it all Suarez never moved from the bench, his World Cup journey with Ghana to the very last.

“We feel sadness and disappointment,” he said afterwards. “Incredible things are being claimed and Fifa have to explain themselves better. Why always against Uruguay?”

Wailing and gnashing.

How remarkable that a dozen years after the Hand of Suarez and a night of Soccer City infamy denied Ghana progress, here we were again, talking penalties at the end of it all. It was Ghana who got this game’s only spot kick, a perfect moment to deliver the revenge that had consumed the country ahead of this reunion.

A Ghanaian journalist had asked Suarez for contrition on Thursday as he told him the country’s fans “feel you are the devil itself.” There was no apology then but there was sorrow now.

It was a night which marked the end of the line for so many. Suarez, Edison Cavani and Diego Godin are among eight members of the Uruguay squad who will be too old come 2026. On the Ghanaian side, this looked to be it for the Ayew dynasty with both Jordan and Andre hauled off at half-time. Manager Otto Addo stepped down afterwards.

Yet it could all have gone so differently in so many ways. Let’s start with the penalty that was given.

It was of the slow-cooked variety, which we’ve seen a few of here. Initially it seemed as though Andre Ayew was in an offside position when Jordan’s shot was spilled by Sergio Rochet and he brought down Mo Kudus. After a lengthy VAR check, it was given. Revenge, exorcism, all of the above. But most of all it offered Ghana the chance to take a huge step back to the knockout stages of a World Cup.

What is it about the sight of a Uruguayan keeper on the line? Ayew’s record from the spot is incredibly good, borderline automatic. Before this night of drama and the devil himself, Ayew had scored 25 of 28 penalties in his career. His effort here was pitiful, a stuttered run-up only seeming to unnerve himself and not Rochet. Suarez, the furthest man up the field, barely reacted.

Five minutes later he made them pay all over again. Darwin Nunez scorched down the right and sent in a ball that should have been dealt with but wasn’t — twice. So it trickled all the way to Suarez. He cut back inside Alidu Seidu and rifled a shot that Lawrence Ati Zigi got a strong but not strong enough hand to. De Arrascaeta followed in and nodded the opener from a yard.

Suarez wheeled away into the corner with the Flamengo attacker and it soon became a powder-blue pile-up. As it stood, Uruguay were going through. Six minutes later he was there again. Facundo Pellistri cut in from the right and scooped one to Nunez who headed on to the No.9. Suarez didn’t need to look, he flicked a lovely looping pass out to his left and De Arrascaeta volleyed it home. It was a gorgeous goal.

At the centre circle, Ayew and Thomas Partey spoke but other Ghanian players stared off into the distance, eyes wide open. The lights were on but they were seeing a ghost, haunted all over again by the devil himself. At the interval, Addo needed to do something drastic and did — he brought off both Ayew brothers in a complete changing of the guard.

Uruguay sat back because they thought they had enough. Ghana probed with Mo Kudus superb, but they found Rochet in inspired form. When Suarez swapped out for Cavani everything was on track. They had a very solid penalty claim turned down when Siebert decided, after a VAR review, that Alidu Seidu’s coming together with Nunez did not warrant punishment. It wasn’t a big deal until it was — once Korea scored across town.

Uruguay had eight minutes of injury time to find a response but couldn’t, another Cavani penalty claim waved away. When the final whistle brought it all to an end, some chased Siebert because they needed someone to blame. But having been 2-0 after a half hour against a listless opponent, they mostly had themselves to blame.

The Ghanaians at least had something to console themselves with: they’d taken the devil out the door with them.

Ghana (4-2-3-1): Ati-Zigi 5; Seidu 5, Amartey 5, Salisu 5, Rahman 4; Partey 5, Abdul Samed 5 (Kyereh 72); Williams 5 (Semenyo 72), J Ayew 3 (Sulemana HT), A Ayew 3 (Bukari HT); Kudus 7 (Issahaku 90).

Booked: Seidu.

Uruguay (4-4-2): Rochet 8; Varela 7, Gimenez 7, Coates 7, Oliveira 6; Pellistri 6 (De La Cruz 66), Valverde 7, Bentancur 6 (Vecino 34), De Arrascaeta 8 (Gomez 81); Suarez 7 (Cavani 65), Nunez 6 (Canobbio 80).

Booked: Suarez, Nunez, Coates.

Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)

Att: 43,443