‘Suarez killed Africa’s hope’ — Ghana’s Ayew revisits 2010 handball incident

Ghana forward Andre Ayew has recalled the heartbreak of the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay, saying Luis Suarez’s handball denied not only Ghana but the entire African continent a chance to reach the semi-finals then.

Ayew spoke on the Obi One Podcast released on Monday, reflecting on Ghana’s dramatic elimination at the tournament in South Africa.

“And Luis Suarez handling that ball killed a lot of hopes, not just from Ghana, but the whole continent,” he said.

Ayew recalled that Ghana’s players had been confident of beating Uruguay and reaching the final.

“How are we not going to beat Uruguay? It was not in our heads, to be honest. We were like, As soon as we beat Uruguay, we’re going to face Holland,” he said.

“If we get to the semi-finals, we’re going to the finals. There was this belief that having the whole of South Africa behind us.”

Ayew, who was in the stands during the match, said the handball initially left him furious, particularly as he was still a teenager at the time.

“Then Suarez catches this ball. I was in the stands, and I was like, ‘I’m young, 19 or 20; everything is just flying up.’ What’s going on? He’s an idiot; he’s this, he’s that,” he recalled.

He said the players were devastated when Gyan missed the penalty but did not blame the striker, whom they regarded as a key reason Ghana had reached that stage of the competition.

“The players were not angry at the situation of Baby Jet or whatever. We were more like, If you were not there, we wouldn’t get here,” Ayew said, referring to Gyan by his nickname.

He described Gyan as Ghana’s designated penalty taker and said the striker had enjoyed an outstanding tournament before the decisive moment.

Ayew added that he still sometimes watches the match but avoids watching the penalty shootout because of Ghana’s record in such contests, including the AFCON.

Ghana faced Uruguay in Johannesburg on July 2, 2010. The match ended 1-1 after extra time, with Ghana coming close to winning it in the final moments. Uruguay striker Suarez deliberately handled the ball on the goal line to prevent Dominic Adiyiah’s goal-bound header from going in, earning a red card and giving Ghana a penalty.

However, Gyan struck the crossbar with the resulting spot-kick, forcing the match into a penalty shootout, which Uruguay won 4-2.

In a rematch that happened at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, speaking before the game on December 2, Suarez refused to apologise, saying, “I don’t apologise for it. I apologise if I injure a player, but I took a red card for the handball.