![\"Luis](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/113170333_suarezhandball-696x392.jpg\" "\\"Luis")
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\u201cFor me, the Uruguay game is a game I think we won,\u201d John Paintsil says, looking back on one of the most dramatic matches in men\u2019s World Cup history: The 2010 quarter-final between his Ghana side and Uruguay in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
The reality, though, is Ghana didn\u2019t win. A handball by Luis Suarez stopped a certain goalbound shot deep into injury time, in one of the most controversial and memorable moments of that tournament. Suarez was sent off \u2013 but Ghana missed the resulting spot-kick and, ultimately, went out on penalties after extra time.<\/p>\n
The pain for Paintsil and his team-mate Hans Sarpei still lingers, 10 years on. For many Ghanaians, Suarez is the perpetrator of one of the greatest crimes in the country\u2019s sporting history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were cheated,\u201d Paintsil says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cTo clear the ball from the line with your hand \u2013 it\u2019s supposed to be a goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paintsil says people still talk about the incident in Ghana.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t forgive him because it was not an accident,\u201d Sarpei adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows what he has done. We were crying and you see someone who has cheated us is celebrating. How can I forgive him? Never. Never ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
On 2 July 2010, Ghana had the footballing hopes of a whole continent on their shoulders.<\/p>\n
South Africa was the host of Africa\u2019s first World Cup but Bafana Bafana were unable to make it past the group stage despite a valiant effort.<\/p>\n
The other African teams had all been eliminated at the same point, leaving just the Black Stars in the competition.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the way to the game against Uruguay, I think everybody knew we could beat them \u2013 I think the whole world was supporting us,\u201d left-back Sarpei says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way we play the game: we\u2019re playing on the front, we\u2019re attacking in front. We try to enjoy the game. When you see Ghana, it\u2019s like you\u2019re listening to music because the ball is flowing.\u201d<\/p>\n Ghana took the lead on the stroke of half-time via a 40-yard thunderbolt from former Portsmouth and Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari.<\/p>\n But Diego Forlan equalised with an exquisite free-kick and the two teams proceeded to play out in an engrossing contest \u2013 undoubtedly one of the best games of the competition \u2013 with both teams spurning chances throughout the game.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the final few minutes of the match that will forever live in World Cup infamy.<\/p>\n Ghana won a free kick on the edge of the box, which was whipped in by Paintsil. In an ensuing goalmouth scramble, Suarez legitimately cleared a shot off the line from captain Steven Appiah \u2013 before, seconds later, palming Dominic Adiyiah\u2019s header away from goal.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I thought, \u2018the last man on the line, touch it with his hand, it\u2019s supposed to be a goal\u2019 \u2013 so I was already celebrating that we are through,\u201d Pantsil recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cThen I saw it was a penalty and I said, \u2018What?\u2019 I was shouting, \u2018No, no, take the ball to the centre (circle), take the ball to the centre.’\u201d<\/p>\n Suarez was sent off, leaving the field in tears, whilst the Ghanaian players began to celebrate.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everybody from our side was thinking \u2018yeah, we\u2019re going to the semi-final\u2019 because Asamoah Gyan had scored two penalty goals before and he made it look easy,\u201d Sarpei says.<\/p>\n Gyan had been talismanic for Ghana in the tournament, leading the line and scoring the winner in the previous round against the United States \u2013 a game which had also gone to extra time.<\/p>\n \u201cI was standing there and for me, the ball was going into the net and we are going through to the next round,\u201d Sarpei recalls.<\/p>\n \u201cThen it hit the crossbar and my first thought was like, \u2018is this real?\u2019 Really? The ball is not into the net? What is happening? What is the problem?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then it was difficult. At this moment, when he didn\u2019t score and we had to go to the penalty shootout, the feeling was like, now it will be difficult to go to the next round.\u201d<\/p>\n Suarez, who had stopped in the tunnel to watch the penalty, was pictured celebrating when Gyan missed \u2013 something that still rankles with Paintsil.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the penalty was missed you came out and then celebrated like you\u2019re on top of the world by hurting people. At least be a professional, feel the pain. Just go to your dressing room and celebrate and then nobody will see it.\u201d<\/p>\n Suarez was quoted in the press saying \u201cthe hand of God now belongs to me\u201d, referencing Diego Maradona\u2019s goal against England at the 1986 World Cup.<\/p>\n Ghana would go on to lose via a penalty shootout and with it went Africa\u2019s golden opportunity to win a World Cup.<\/p>\n In the two tournaments since no African team has come close to reaching the semi-final stage.<\/p>\n The match against Ghana is where Luis Suarez first gained international notoriety. Six months later, he would join Liverpool from Dutch giants Ajax.<\/p>\n Suarez took a gamble that helped his country get into its first semi-final since 1970, but they were beaten 3-2 by the Netherlands without him.<\/p>\n \u201cOne has to do what one has to do to make his country proud and that\u2019s what he did to us,\u201d says Paintsil \u2013 but asked if put in the same position as Suarez, whether he would handle the ball, he was adamant.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no African player that would have done that,\u201d he argues.<\/p>\n \u201cAfricans are more athletic. Even when the ball is on the other line, I would have tried to kick the ball, kung-fu style.\u201d<\/p>\n They say time heals old wounds. But 10 years on, the wound still appears to be open for Hans and John.<\/p>\n \u201cIt still pains. I\u2019m still feeling it anytime I think about it,\u201d says Pantsil.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of things would have changed in Ghanaian football, in our country and also in Africa. Maybe adding numbers to the next World Cup, the more an African team goes forward, the more we can add more countries to our package. For me I don\u2019t know when I\u2019m going to forget about this memory but now it\u2019s part of me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Sarpei](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/_113170338_sarpeitacklessuarez.png\")
![\"Gyan's](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/_113170336_gyanhitsbar.png\")
![\"Pantsil](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/_113170724_pantsilconsolesgyan.png\")