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Luis Suarez sent off during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Uruguay and Ghana at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, July 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
If it wasn’t for Luis Suarez, Uruguay wouldn’t be preparing for their first World Cup semi-final since 1970. That’s a fact.
Put yourself in his shoes and it’s hard to say you wouldn’t have done the same thing in saving Dominic Adiyiah’s goalbound header in the dying seconds of Friday’s quarter-final.
A lot has been made of the Ajax striker’s split-second decision and whether or not he was cheating? Whether or not his punishment was fair? Whether he’s a hero or a villain?
It’s likely the debate wouldn’t have been so fierce had Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan converted the spotkick.
Nevertheless, Suarez did what he did and La Celeste, through no small miracle, live to fight another day in South Africa.
They were pretty cruel scenes, watching Gyan step up for the resultant spotkick, only to see his shot cannon into the crossbar and fly over the top. As a neutral observer, it was hard not to feel for the guy.
The footage of Suarez, who was still within the playing arena when the spotkick was taken, react with delight to Gyan’s miss was pretty cruel too.
Sure, you could understand Suarez’s delight at seeing his sacrifice pay off, but it had a real element of cruelty about it. Like taking glory out of someone else’s pain.
Not long later, after Sebastian Abreu converted the winning spotkick for Uruguay in the ensuing shootout, Suarez was there again, atop a teammate’s shoulders celebrating the miracle.
Nevertheless, you could excuse the guy for it was the heat of the moment.
But it’s clear in Uruguayan eyes, he was a hero.
It’s also clear Suarez was revelling in his newfound status, which would certainly anger a lot of those who perceived him to be a ‘cheat’ for his handball.
Whichever inclined you are, though, you must acknowledge this was the heat of the moment.
But what really got my goat, was once the glory of the battle died down, Suarez showed little remorse and humility towards Ghana and his actions.
“The ‘Hand of God’ now belongs to me,” Suarez told reporters. “Mine is the real ‘Hand Of God’. I made the best save of the tournament. Sometimes in training I play as a goalkeeper so it was worth it.
“There was no alternative but for me to do that and when they missed the penalty I thought ‘It is a miracle and we are alive in the tournament’.
“Now we are in the semi-finals although I was very sad because no-one likes to be sent off.”
The comments had a touch of BP CEO Tony Hayward about them, showing little class, compassion, humility or even shame.
In the modern game, with winning the be all and end all, is it too much to ask of our sporting stars to display a few of these elements?
On the other hand, Ghana have been humble in defeat and haven’t reacted to Suarez’s gloating about his ‘heroic’ actions.
While Ghana boss Milovan Rajevac did label it a ‘sporting unjustice’, he added ‘that’s football’.
Indeed it is, with that win at all costs mentality, where victory is the be all and end all.
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