One handball, one missed penalty, and a World Cup moment that broke Ghanaian hearts. In the final seconds of the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal, Luis Suárez used his hands to stop Ghana’s goal-bound header, earning a red card and leaving Asamoah Gyan with a penalty that could send Ghana to the semifinals.
Gyan struck the crossbar, Uruguay advanced through the penalty shootout, and Suárez became a villain to many Ghana fans. This sports story revisits the dramatic Uruguay vs. Ghana match, Suárez’s controversial goal-line handball, and the penalty miss that changed the game. A concise football history recap of one of the World Cup’s most debated moments.
Gyan struck the crossbar, Uruguay advanced through the penalty shootout, and Suárez became a villain to many Ghana fans. This sports story revisits the dramatic Uruguay vs. Ghana match, Suárez’s controversial goal-line handball, and the penalty miss that changed the game. A concise football history recap of one of the World Cup’s most debated moments.
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00:00The kick came into the box and it was total chaos as Uruguay fought to survive the final seconds of
00:05the 2010 World Cup quarter-final. But with one last desperate header off the line, their keeper
00:10finally got a hold of the ball. To the fans watching at home, it looked like the match would
00:15be decided with a penalty shootout. That was until the referee pulled out his red card. Why? Well,
00:21as the ball flew toward the open net on that final attack, Luis Suarez hadn't used his head
00:27at all. He'd thrown up both his hands and swatted the ball off the line like a goalkeeper. The
00:32referee sent him off and Suarez walked to the sideline with his face buried in his shirt.
00:38And so Ghana, the only African side left in the South African-hosted tournament, just had to score
00:43this one penalty and they'd become the first African nation to ever reach a World Cup semi-final.
00:49Suarez watched nervously from the tunnel. Asamwa Jan stepped up and with his whole nation watching
00:54on the edge of their seats, he smashed the penalty off the crossbar. Suarez celebrated in the tunnel
01:00as the ball sailed over the goal. The game did indeed go to a penalty shootout. Uruguay won and
01:06just like that, Ghana were out. All across Africa, Suarez became enemy number one for robbing Ghana of
01:13the win. And when he was later asked if he would ever apologize to the Ghanaian people, he seemed to
01:18have accepted his role as the villain. He just shrugged and said, it's not my fault. I didn't miss the
01:24penalty.
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