Luis Suarez refuses to apologise for World Cup 2010 handball ahead of Ghana reunion

Uruguay star Luis Suarez has refused to apologise for his infamous handball against Ghana on the eve of their World Cup reunion, insisting: “It’s not my fault - I didn’t miss the penalty”.

Suarez was involved in one of the most remarkable finishes to a World Cup match when the two sides met in the quarter-finals of the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

The forward was sent off in the dying seconds of extra-time after making a goal-saving clearance with his hand, with the scores level at 1-1 but Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting spot-kick and Uruguay went on to win on penalties, denying Ghana a historic moment as the first African nation to reach the semi-finals.

The two sides have not met since and, in a bold move, Uruguay nominated Suarez as their designated player to face the media and preview Friday’s game. The 35-year-old was informed by a Ghanaian journalist that he is referred to as “the devil himself” in the country and questioned why Suarez had never apologised for his actions.

“I didn’t say sorry because I did the handball but Ghana’s player missed the penalty, not me,” Suarez said.

“Maybe I would apologise if I tackled and injured a player but in this situation, I took the red card, the referee gave a penalty and it’s not my fault because I didn’t miss the penalty.

“You saw that the player who missed the penalty said he’d do the same. It’s not my responsibility to take the penalty.”

Uruguay have taken just one point from their first two matches and must beat Ghana to have any chance of reaching the last-16, while Ghana can only be certain of qualification with victory themselves.

The jeopardy adds another level of spice to what had already been billed as a grudge match, but Suarez was keen to dismiss that narrative.

“I don’t know what people are saying about whether they are looking at this as revenge,” he added. “Back [in 2010], these players that will play tomorrow, some of them were eight years old.

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“Some people might say that I am the devil himself but we can’t misunderstand things. We played against Portugal in 2018 and won against them. Have you heard Portuguese players saying we need revenge?

“Look at what I did with [Giorgio] Chiellini: yes, I made a mistake with what I did but I played against him afterwards and we shook hands, we played in the Champions League. We can’t just keep thinking about the past."