12 years after South Africa 2010: African football fans celebrate Luis Suarez’s grief

Ghanaian football fans were joined by others across the continent and the world to celebrate the pain that Uruguayan skipper Luis Suarez felt when his side beat the Ghana Black Stars at the World Cup but failed to qualify from their group.

Images of the former Liverpool man shedding tears at the prospect of exiting the tournament were beamed across the screens at the Al Janoub Stadium in Doha and also trended on social media platforms – especially Facebook and Twitter.

From Nigerian journalists to Somali activists, a Kenyan lawyer and others across the continent and the world, it was justice done Ghana and the Black Stars for Suarez, the villain of 2010, to be weeping because of a lack of qualification.

Roll back to 2010, Luis Suarez cleared a goal-bound effort with his hands when the two sides met in a quarter-final game in South Africa. Unfortunately, the resulting penalty was missed by Asamoah Gyan with Uruguay going on to win on penalties.

It appears that most Africans were waiting for the Black Stars to beat Suarez and the Uruguayans but in the absence of that, the fact that Uruguay crashed out and that Suarez was captured sobbing seems to have placated most fans.

See some of the reactions below:

Match Report: Uruguay vs. Ghana

The Black Stars of Ghana had one task going into their final Group H fixture at the 2022 World Cup.

Win at all costs, worse case draw against Uruguay and secure passage into the Round-of-16 stage of the competition.

The match was, however, settled with three major incidents in the first half. A penalty miss by Black Stars skipper Andre Dede Ayew, when the score was goalless.

Then Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s two goals for Uruguay which came in quick sucession, consigned the Black Stars to a second World Cup defeat against the South Americans who broke hearts of Africans in 2010.

Their 2 – 0 victory over the Black Stars was, however, not enough to get them through to the next round of the tournament as South Korea beat Portugal 2-1.

With Uruguay in dire need of a third goal to progress to the next round of the World Cup, Suarez was reduced to tears as efforts to score another goal proved futile.

Portugal and South Korea advanced from Group H as Uruguay and Ghana exited the tournament after finished 3rd and 4th respectively.