It was a remarkable night of drama at the World Cup as Uruguay, aided by the ejection of their top striker and a penalty kick miss that rivals Roberto Baggio’s in 1994, survived Ghana at Soccer City.
Luis Suarez’ decision to deliberately handle the ball on the goal line at the last attack of extra time kept the score drawn after Asamoah Gyan skied his last-second penalty attempt. Walter Sebastian Abreu later sank the winning spot kick in the tie-breaker to give the South Americans a 1-1 (4-2) win and a shot at Holland in the semifinals.
We thought we had seen the match of the day earlier in Port Elizabeth, where Holland upset Brazil 2-1. We hadn’t seen anything yet.
If this had been a boxing match, it would have gone to the cards, and the judges would have declared it a draw. 120 minutes of pounding, probing and riveting football justifiably failed to produce a winner, and both teams can lay claim tonight to playing the game of their lives.
The ending was as chaotic and unbelievable as any you’ll ever see, with Ghana being foiled three times in front of Uruguay’s net, then seeing their best player on the night hit the crossbar with a chance to win it all. Heartbroken doesn’t begin to describe how the Africans must feel.
Ghana had started the evening looking tentative and cowed by the occasion, but after weathering a solid half-hour of Uruguayan pressure they began to come into the game and assert themselves. After getting yeoman work out of John Mensah, who stifled Diego Forlan and Suarez almost single-handedly in the early going, Ghana slowly began to show off the quick passing game and control of tempo that had proved so devastating against the Americans last week.
Sulley Muntari — the player who was almost sent home after a row with his coach, Serb Milovan Rajevac — scored the opener in stunning fashion, with quite literally no time left on the clock in the first half. His 40-yard rocket caught 'keeper Fernando Muslera off guard, and what should have been a saveable ball slipped past the Lazio youngster and into the net at the end halftime stoppage time.
But it would not take long for Uruguay to fashion a reply. A foolish foul by John Pantsil on Jorge Fucile gave Forlan an opportunity at the top left corner of the penalty area. His free kick did not miss, whipping past the Ghanaian wall and blazing by a furious Richard Kingson.
Forlan and Suarez should have ended matters just past the hour mark. Forlan’s cross flew past the face of the goal to a waiting Suarez on the other side, but the Ajax man’s shot went into the side netting. Forlan tested Kingson twice more from free kicks, but in each case, was just a fraction off the frame.
At the other end, Kevin Prince Boateng and Kwadwo Asamoah were giving an increasingly fatigued Uruguayan backline fits. Captain Diego Lugano had to be removed 38 minutes in after Isaac Vorsah fell on top of him, wrenching his knee, and Mauricio Victorino had a difficult time holding the line together in his absence. Andres Scotti was forced to fill in, but with Egidio Arevalo Rios being exposed in his role as a makeshift stopper, the player of the game, Asamoah Gyan, was getting too many free looks at Muslera’s net.
As time expired and the teams moved into the extra half hour, it was clear that both were gassed, but that Ghana had the edge. Diego Perez could barely move, and in a desperate three minute period at the end of the second overtime period, it seemed that the Africans were on course to make history. First, Gyan blazed into the box, only to see his attempt scooped dangerously netwards by Scotti.
Then came one of the most remarkable last minutes in World Cup history. Ghana bore down on the Uruguayan net, forcing first Muslera to make a stop on Gyan; then saw Suarez clear a shot by Steven Appiah; then finally saw Adiyiah blast the ball at Suarez, who put up both hands and set it like a volleyball, drawing an immediate dismissal from ref Olegario Benquerenca.
As Suarez, in tears, walked to the tunnel to leave the game, he turned back to watch Gyan step to the spot, measure the angle, and shoot the ball.
It rocked off the crossbar.
The ref blew the whistle, and Suarez raced toward the locker-room screaming in delight. Gyan, stunned, was comforted by his teammates. The stadium, overwhelmingly pro-Ghana was silent.
The tie-breaker was methodical, and cruel. Uruguay coolly sunk four of theirs; Ghana saw real bravery from Gyan as he got right back up on the horse and sunk his, but two tepid attempts from Mensah and Dominic Adiyiah were saved by Muslera.
How brilliant Suarez’ decision looks when the South Americans line up against Holland’s in four days time is an open question. But tonight, Uruguay is in the World Cup. And Ghana, the last representative of the African nations, are out.
Jamie Trecker is a senior writer for FoxSoccer.com.
