Paintsil recalls World Cup heartbreak ahead of renewed Uruguay feud
Ghana and Uruguay will renew their 12-year feud in the final game of Group H at the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Friday, 02 December, in Qatar.
It will be the first official meeting between Ghana and Uruguay since the scandalous quarterfinal at the 2010 showpiece in South Africa.
A deliberate Luis Suarez handball denied Ghana victory at the end of extra time.
But still, if Ghana had scored the penalty from the resulting handball, they would have booked their spot in the semifinal against the Netherlands in Cape Town.
Asamoah Gyan, then of Rennes in Ligue 1, missed the spot kick, crushing Africa’s dreams.
More than a decade later, Ghana have a chance to exact revenge on Uruguay with former Ghanaian midfielder John Paintsil recalling the pivotal 2010 game like it was yesterday.
REVENGE ON THE CARDS
The four-time African champions, Ghana, have already played Portugal [lost 3-2] and will have played South Korea by the time they face Uruguay in the World Cup.
They would almost certainly enter the Uruguay game knowing what their fate would be in the World Cup.
Paintsil, who formed part of the Ghana 2010 World Cup squad, told BBC News Africa that he was overjoyed when Sully Muntari scored to put Ghana in the driving seat.
“When Sully Muntari scored that goal I was thinking ‘ok yeah we still have 45 minutes to battle with Uruguay’. They were tactically disciplined and very good, so for us to get that last minute goal, I was so happy,” he said.
It was indeed a battle for 45 minutes. Diego Forlan’s equaliser for Uruguay in the 55th minute did not deter Ghana from pressing for a winner.
The game ended 1-1 and went into extra time. Ghana was awarded a free kick, which resulted in a moment that ended their hopes and sent them packing.
Paintsil claimed that none of his teammates would have stopped a goal-bound ball with their hands like Suarez did.
JOHN PAINTSIL ON THE LUIZ SUAREZ HANDBALL
“Actually, I was the one who picked up that free kick from the right side, and when I picked the ball I prayed over it and said ‘this ball must straight to the net’,” he stated.
“Dominic Adiyiah hit it first, it came up, and then Suarez used his hand to bat the ball- I saw it. None of my colleagues would have done that.”
To everyone’s surprise, Gyan’s spot kick hit the crossbar and Paintsil said Gyan cried uncontrollably all night because he felt he had let the country down.
Paintsil revealed that Gyan is still in pain to this day.
“I was at the hotel, we all had to go to Gyan’s room and talk to him because he was feeling that he will be taking the blame,” explained Paintsil.
The former Fulham, West Ham and Leicester City star says Ghanaians are gunning for revenge in Qatar.
“We did all we could, but he was crying throughout the night. I will tell you Gyan still feels that pain and all of us do.
The former Fulham, West Ham and Leicester City star says Ghanaians are gunning for revenge in Qatar.
However, he advised Ghana not to get carried away and play their hearts out.
“When I saw the draw Ghana and Uruguay, it was kind of exciting one to me here in Ghana especially. The supporters are talking about revenge,” said Paintsil.
“We have a history but the advice we have been giving to the players is they should know that there is not only Uruguay we have in the group.”
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Article compiled by Tlalane Phahla