Some Ghanaians on social media have reacted to Luis Suarez’s retirement from international football, describing him as the ‘worst nightmare’ in Ghana’s football history.
Suarez is remembered by most Ghanaians for his handball that partly denied the Black Stars the chance of becoming the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup.
In the final minutes of the quarter-final match at the 2010 World Cup, the striker made an audacious effort to stop a goal-bound header that could have seen Ghana win the game.
Suarez was shown a red card, and Ghana’s all-time top scorer went on to miss the decisive penalty, which was the last kick of the game. Uruguay went on to win the match 4-2 in a penalty shootout.
Fourteen years after the incident, the 37-year-old has announced his retirement from the national team.
He made the announcement ahead of Uruguay’s upcoming World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on Saturday, which will be his last appearance for his country.
“I’ve been thinking about this and analyzing this. I believe this is the right time,” said Suarez.
“I want to be relaxed when I play my last game with the national team. I’ll be just as excited to play as I was in 2007 when I played for my national team for the first time.
“That 19-year-old kid is now a veteran player, an older player—however you want to call it—with an incredible history with the national team, that will give his life for the team.”
Suarez is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer with 69 goals in 142 appearances. He made his debut against Colombia in February 2007.
Below are some of the comments from Ghanaians:
Ghana’s worst nightmare
All thanks to Asamoah Gyan for missing the penalty 😫— 90+5 FC (@90plus5FC) September 3, 2024
Source: Ghanaweb