Africa.
The birthplace of mankind. It also has the privilege of having it’s rain be blessed by these dudes. So, you know it slaps.
And when it comes to football, there is no exception. This continent has football in it’s blood and is blessed with abilities far beyond many give it credit for. Just ask the French national team…
But in all seriousness, despite all of this, Africa has underperformed on the international stage pretty much since the dawn of time.
An African club has never won the Club World Cup and African teams have never had much luck in the World Cup either. Not even the one that was held on African soil, back in 2010.
However, in that World Cup, something almost miraculous happened. Ghana, the Black Stars, played a great few rounds and almost did the impossible.
By the quarter final stage, every African nation had been elliminated and this team collectively had the hopes of an entire continent on their backs. And then the incident happened (Sound bite). Luis Suárez officially became public enemy number 1.
Today, we’re gonna talk about. The lead up, the main event, the aftermath and why what happened was so significant. So significant that 10 years after the fact, the Ghanaian national team refused to forgive him.
So, with that being said, why is Luis Suárez not allowed back in Africa?
Table of Contents
Africa’s history in the World Cup
Despite the clear talent that lies on the continent, Africa is some paces behind Europe and South America in terms of quality and overall star power on the international stage.
This is obviously not the case for all of Europe and all of South America, or literally every other region and nation in the world. But this article isn’t about them.
Egypt, Africa’s most successful football team ever, with 7 AFCON titles, have only qualified for 3 world cups since 1930. And further to that, they haven’t made it passed the group stages since 1934.
Cameroon, Africa’s second most successful team with 5 AFCON titles, has had a bit more luck, qualifying for 7 world Cups. And they even made it to the quarter finals back in 1990. The furthest an African team has ever gone in the tournament’s history.
And by most accounts, this was a bit of a joyride for the indomitable lions. You ever seen this celebration before?
You definitely have. That’s Roger Milla. Here he is celebrating a goal against Columbia in this world Cup. He actually went on to score 4 in this World Cup.
And this man truly deserves his flowers. To this day, he is the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history, hitting the back of the net at 42 years of age in the 1994 World cup. In this clip we just saw- he’s 38.
Something noteworthy is that, before him, goal celebrations did get a bit raucous from time to time, but many view this celebration as the one that opened the floodgates for the more wacky and joyous celebrations we see in football.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is you can indirectly thank this man for the dab.
Moving along, the heroics of the Cameroonian team from Italia 90 would be repeated by Senegal 12 years later.
The Senegalese did so by getting out of a group with a handful of historically successful teams. Denmark, who had won the 1992 Euros and were growing in football stature. Uruguay, who themselves were 2-time world champions and 14-time Copa America Champions. More on them in a bit.
And France, who were reigning champions from the previous world cup.
Funny story about France. Every single player, bar two, on the Senegalese team were playing for French clubs at the time of this world cup. I can only imagine how the French felt about this at the time.
However, just like Cameroon, they fell victim to defeat in the quarter finals.
And so, the wait went on. Until 2010.
Luis Suárez and Uruguay
El Pistolero – Luis Suárez.
By 2010, the man had been through his fair share of strange and controversial moments. But nothing outrageous. Just normal run of the mill stuff like forcing a move out of a club to move to a larger one. A spat of petulance on the field, arguing with referees etc. You know the deal.
But nothing quite like what was about to happen. And nothing quite like what would happen in the years to come.
But before we get to any of that, following the 2009/10 season Luis Suárez was on fire. Dude was just coming off an insane season at Ajax where he scored 35 goals in 33 league appearances. At 23 years old, the guy was doing some crazy stuff.
Which brings us to the World Cup.
Suárez absolutely brought his form with him to South Africa when football’s biggest competition came around. Alongside Diego Forlan, the two were causing all sorts of havoc from day 1.
With 3 goals and 2 assists from Suárez and 5 goals and 1 assist from Forlan, over the course of this tournament, Uruguay were looking the real deal.
Despite the fact that they were two-time world Champions as I mentioned before, they hadn’t made it past the round of 16 in 40 years, by the time this edition came around. And this time, they did it with ease. An undefeated group stage run, a dramatic 2-1 win vs South Korea, and La Celeste were pretty much flying.
And so, the quarter finals were looming. Their opponents?
Ghana 2010: almost a fairy tale
Just like Cameroon and Senegal had done before them, the black stars had fought their way to the final 8 of the World Cup. And, ironically, just like Uruguay, they were living their own fairy-tale.
The 2010 edition was only their second world cup outing in the country’s history. It came off the back of the 2006 World cup, where they made it to the round of 16. A very impressive result for their World Cup debut.
And the next time around, they went one step further.
Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, The Ivory Coast and South Africa (the hosts) all failed to make it out their groups. It was up to Ghana to carry the torch for Africa. And after a hard fought group, making it out on goal difference and a 2-1 win vs the USA, they were looking good.
Asamoah Gyan was the Starman with 3 goals up to that point and looked to be made of the right stuff.
Ghana as a unit were in a good position. And their next goal was simple: go where no other African team has ever gone: The semi-finals.
Which brings us to the incident.
2nd of July. 2010, Soccer City. Ghana vs Uruguay.
Just like any game of knockout football, the stakes were high. So, naturally, the approach from both sides was cautious.
45 minutes played, no goals. But just before half time, Sully Muntari strikes. 1-0 Ghana. The joy only lasted for about 10 minutes of in-game time before Forlan drew things level once more. The aerodynamics on that Jabulani ball really was something else man.
By the 90-minute mark, things were still unsettled. And going into the final minutes of the game, nothing had changed.
However, in the 120th minute, just before penalties, Ghana got a freekick. The ball fell to Dominic Adiyiah, and well…
A red card, a kafuffle and a penalty. A heinous act by Suárez, but all the same, Ghana still had a free spot kick in the 120th minute of the match. The game was still in their hands. Until Gyan, Ghana’s star player sent his shot into orbit. Suárez and Uruguay were in elation.
And I guess, it was either the shock, the nerves, the exhaustion, or perhaps a combination of the three. But Ghana just did not have what it took to overcome Uruguay in the ensuing penalty shootout.
For millions upon millions of people, who were not even Ghanaian, disappointment was an understatement.
The Aftermath
Luis Suárez has obviously been painted as the treacherous villain in this entire story. And rightly so. This is possibly the most blatant and cynical hand balls that I have ever seen in my entire life. It’s surely one of the most high profile.
“Mine is the real ‘Hand Of God’. I made the save of the tournament.”
Quotes like this did little to win him over in the public eye. To be fair, neither did quotes like, “Sometimes in training I play goalkeeper, so it was worth it.” The guy is one of the biggest trolls in history, I swear.
But at the same time, there is likely not a single person that has criticised Suárez, that would not be jumping on tables if one of their fellow countrymen did this. To his teammates, and indeed to his country, he was a hero.
And even further to that, justice was served right there and then. He got a red card and a penalty was awarded.
“When there is a handball in the penalty area, there is a red card and the player is thrown out of the game. Is Suárez also to blame for Ghana missing the penalty?
The words of Uruguay coach, at the time, Oscar Tabarez.
He wasn’t wrong.
Asamoah Gyan, despite being one of the top performers in the tournament, simply crumbled under the pressure. In his own words, he didn’t sleep for a week following his miss. You really do have to feel for him.
But, that’s football.
Eventually, while this was incredibly controversial when it happened, this whole event didn’t count for much, as Uruguay were knocked out by the Netherlands in the semis.
Gyan earned a move over to England, with Sunderland. And Suárez. Well Suárez had some really really good times. And some really really bad times.
In the end, all of this is just to say that I don’t think Suárez will be going to Africa on vacation any time soon.
Certainly not Ghana.