Uruguay legend Luis Suarez sees no reason to apologise for the handball on the line against Ghana in the 2010 World Cup, but did admit to a ‘mistake’ when biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini.
With Uruguay set to face Ghana again in the tournament tomorrow, the incident from that quarter-final has come back to the fore.
Suarez was sent off after using his hand to effectively save Dominic Adiyiah’s header in the final minute of extra time, but Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty and Ghana were eliminated.
“I don’t apologise about that, I did the handball, but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me,” Suarez said at a press conference.
“I could apologise if I injured a player with a tackle and got a red card, but in this situation I take a red card and the referee says penalty.
“It’s not my fault, I didn’t miss the penalty. The player who missed the penalty said he would do the same [as I did] in that situation. It’s not my responsibility in this situation.”
Suarez was told he is still considered a ‘Diablo’ in Ghana for that incident and they are out for revenge, but he had plenty more to earn him a reputation for breaking the rules of sporting fair play.
That includes several different biting incidents, including taking a chunk out of Italy defender Chiellini’s shoulder in the 2014 World Cup.
“They are saying I am the devil and these things, but what I did with Chiellini, I played against him afterwards, I made a mistake and we shook hands.
“You can’t just keep thinking about the past and revenge because that can be counter-productive.”
There was no VAR at the time, so Suarez was not sent off and Italy lost the match, but he did later receive a nine-match ban, four months in all football competitions.
Suarez deserved his teeth knocked out. should have been immediate red card.
Italy would of scored and won, and qualified for next round.
If VAR was around:
– 2010 goal by Quagliarella versus Slovakia would have stood. We advance to the Second Round.
– 2014 Suarez gets a Red Card.