LUIS SUAREZ has been named Uruguay captain against Ghana – over a decade after his infamous World Cup handball.
The striker takes the armand from Diego Godin with the centre-back placed on the bench.
Suarez in 2010 prevented Ghana from scoring a late winner in their quarter-final in South Africa.
The Liverpool legend handled the ball on the line to stop Dominic Adiyiah’s goalbound header.
Ex-Sunderland forward Asamoah Gyan went on to miss the penalty with Uruguay later winning on penalties to dramatically progress.
Now the two sides will meet again over 12 years on from the incident – which Suarez feels no remorse for.
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He said: “I don’t apologise about that, I took the handball, but Ghana player missed the penalty.
“I’d apologise if I injured a player or took a red card for this, but I took a red card (for the handball).
“It wasn’t my fault because I didn’t miss the penalty. You see the player who missed the penalty, he said he would do the same.”
Even Ghana boss Otto Addo spoke out in defence of Suarez’s actions.
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Addo said: “In general it is about perspective, if the same incident would have happened the other way around and Ghana proceeded to the semi-finals, everyone would say it is normal that a player would do anything he can to help his team go to the semi-finals.
“For me, it’s not a big topic. This is what I wish from every player, to do all he can to help his team qualify. Sometimes even sacrificing himself with a red card.
“It was a very sad day for me, I watched it and I was sad, but this is my perspective. If I see it from another perspective, it is a normal thing.”
Ghana could end up having the last laugh as they currently sit second in the group, three points behind leaders Portugal.
Meanwhile Uruguay are bottom with just a point and must beat Ghana to give themselves a chance of qualification.
But even then, Suarez’s side will rely on South Korea dropping points against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
