Star Suarez left in tears as Uruguay, Ghana both exit

Uruguay crashed out of the World Cup yesterday despite beating Ghana 2-0 after South Korea scored a late winner in the other Group H match to leapfrog the South American side.
Giorgian De Arrascaeta netted twice in quick succession in the first half, with 35-year-old Luis Suarez having a hand in both goals.
However, Suarez finished the match on the bench in tears as the news came in of South Korea’s last-gasp victory over Portugal, which meant the Asian side had moved above the Uruguayans into second place in Group H on goals scored.
Veteran striker Suarez had been at the centre of the pre-match build-up because of his infamous handball in the 2010 quarter-finals, which helped eliminate Ghana.
His name was booed loudly by the Ghana fans when it was read out by the stadium announcers and he got the same treatment every time he touched the ball.
He was also leading the protests when Ghana were awarded a penalty in the 19th minute.
Mohamed Kudus had initially been ruled offside when he was brought down by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet but after that decision was overturned referee Daniel Siebert gave the spot-kick after checking the pitchside monitor.
But Andre Ayew’s tame effort was easily saved by Rochet and with Ghana’s fans silent in disbelief, Uruguay made them pay.
Darwin Nunez was denied by Mohamed Salisu’s brilliant goalline clearance but in the 26th minute De Arrascaeta nodded in from close range after brilliant work from Suarez.
Collecting a poor cross from the right which evaded two Ghana defenders, Suarez cut inside Alidu Seidu and hit a powerful low shot that squirmed through Lawrence Ati Zigi’s hands. It was edging towards the goal when De Arrascaeta pounced.
Six minutes later Uruguay gave Ghana a mountain to climb when Arrascaeta hit a sublime volley at the end of superb team move, Suarez providing a first-time assist from Nunez’s knockdown.
Ghana were let off the hook by Siebert just before the hour mark when he ruled that Daniel Amartey had touched the ball while tackling Nunez in the area.
That decision would turn out to be crucial as another goal would have put Uruguay through.
Suarez was booed and cheered in equal measure by the crowd when he was substituted for Edinson Cavani in the 66th minute.
Ghana struggled to create anything in response. The closest they came to pulling a goal back came with nine minutes remaining, when Rochet brilliantly tipped away Kudus’s powerful low drive.
Uruguay then realised they needed another goal and poured forward but were unable to find make the breakthrough.
The match ended with pushing and shoving, with Suarez distraught at his team’s fate.
Ghana centre-back Daniel Amartey yesterday admitted that his team were determined that if they could not qualify for the World Cup knockout stage, they would at least prevent Uruguay from doing so.
The bad blood between the two nations dates back 12 years to the infamous Suarez handball that prevented a certain goal for Ghana but helped Uruguay go through to the World Cup semi-finals in South Africa.
Suarez was sent off but Asamoah Gyan missed the subsequent penalty and Uruguay triumphed in the shoot-out.
Ghana were thus prevented from becoming the first African side to reach a World Cup semi-final.
And in a drama-filled Group H clash in Qatar yesterday, Uruguay triumphed 2-0 but both sides were eliminated due to South Korea’s 2-1 win over Portugal.
Late in the game, with Ghana chasing two goals to go through, Uruguay also realised they needed another one, creating a frantic end-to-end final 20 minutes.
“I just told my teammates that we need a goal now but they need a goal now so we have to defend for ourselves so that if we can’t go, they don’t go,” Amartey said.
Asked if it was important to deny Uruguay a place in the last 16, Amartey said: “For me, yes.”
“It was tough because you can see their centre back, everybody comes (forward). Uruguay needed one goal to go through and you can see we defend four against five or three against two but we managed to defend.” Amartey denied the Ghanaians had revenge on their minds for what happened in 2010, pointing out that no-one in the current squad, except captain Andre Ayew, was even at the South Africa World Cup. And he admitted the team did have some regrets after Ayew missed a penalty minutes before Uruguay opened the scoring in the first half.
“It’s football, it happens. If we score that penalty I think we kill them but we miss the penalty and you can see the game changed,” he said.