Uruguay forward Luis Suarez believes he was not at fault for Ghana exiting the 2010 World Cup as the two nations prepare to meet for the first time since the fallout.
During the quarter-finals of the World Cup in South Africa, Suarez caused outrage when he clawed the ball away with his hands on the goal line from a header by Dominic Adiyiah.
Advertisement
Suarez was then sent off and Ghana were awarded a penalty, but striker Asamoah Gyan struck the crossbar, with Uruguay going on to win the tie on penalties and knock out the African nation.
The now 34-year-old Suarez faced questions from journalists on the eve of the match taking place on Friday, where it was put to him that he is viewed as ‘el diablo’, the devil himself.
However, Suarez insisted he was not at fault because he was the one who didn’t miss the spot kick.
He said to reporters: “The first time, I didn’t apologise about that because I took the handball, but the Ghana player missed a penalty. Not me. Maybe I can apologise if I make a tackle, injure the player and take a red card. Maybe I would apologise.
“But in this situation I take the red card. The referee called a penalty. It’s not my fault because I didn’t miss the penalty. You see the player that missed the penalty? He’d do the same (as me) in this situation. It’s not my responsibility to shoot the penalty.”
Pressed on whether Ghana would seek revenge and if he’d be a marked man on Friday, he added: “I haven’t thought about that. Things get misinterpreted. I don’t know what has been said.
“It’s likely that the players who are talking about revenge were eight years old and don’t remember what happened. They probably saw videos of me. They were 12 years old and they heard the people saying ‘Why’d he do that? He’s a devil’. Everything that’s said shouldn’t be misinterpreted.
“The other day against Portugal, did you hear the Portuguese players saying ‘we want revenge because Uruguay eliminated us in 2018?’ No. People want to make more of all of this because of what happened. That was 12 years ago.
“It’s in the past. I f***ked up against Giorgio Chiellini. I’ve played against Chiellini. I went to him, shook his hand and we embraced. Did I mess up? Yes. I accepted it. I scored a goal in the Champions (League) in front of (Patrice) Evra, Chiellini and all of that.
Advertisement
“You can live in the past and think about revenge because there could be a time when it backfires.”
Suarez started Uruguay’s opening match against South Korea but was benched for their previous outing against Portugal. He came off the bench for the last 17 minutes.
Uruguay must defeat Ghana on Friday if they are to have any chance of progressing to the last-16 stage.
GO DEEPER
'The whole of Ghana hates Luis Suarez and we want revenge'
(Photo: Getty Images)