FIFA World Cup 2010: Ghana vs. Uruguay - Good guys always finish last - Suarez's Hand Of Shame
There are reasons why people hate modern footballers. They seldom care, they are highly paid (in most cases over paid!) and they have a very low moral level. Last night in the Ghana vs. Uruguay match, a new benchmark of shame and disgrace was set, a benchmark that might not be met completely in years to come.
In recent world cup history there have been many examples of outright cheating. Maradona’s hand of God goal against England in 1986 comes to mind and then others in recent times, including Thierry Henry’s hand ball against Ireland to control the ball and contribute to the goal which eventually earned the French their spot in the FIFA World Cup. And now that Maradona is coaching the Argentinean team we can for sure expect something similar from them. A team is supposed to reflect a manager’s foot-balling philosophy right?
Luis Suarez may be the happiest man in the World right now but at what cost? At the cost of stealing and cheating a place away from Africans in their very own world cup. Suarez managed to achieve a level of deceit that may never be met in human history.
Firstly, it is safe to say that this world cup so far has been marred with various bad refereeing decisions. There was the atrocious sending off of Kaka in the group stages, and then there was a similar sending off of Ricardo Costa against Spain after Capdevilla over-acted on the field to a small knock to the face in a manner that can be expected of a nuclear bomb survivor.
Suarez’s acts have surpassed all of these horrific moments that preceded his hand ball. In the last minute of the match after knowing quite well what he was doing (cheating) and denying a goal scoring opportunity, Suarez still did what one would expect of your typical modern footballer. He touched the ball deliberately with his hand to prevent the ball from going into the back of the net and then was shown a red card for his troubles.
The ensuing penalty which was taken by Gyan struck the post and went out of play. All of this happened in the last minute of extra time. After this incident the match went to a penalty shootout, where eventually Uruguay won after Ghana failed to score on 3 of their 5 penalties.
Suarez had an opportunity to celebrate the fact that his devious handball had given Uruguay a place in the semi-finals of the World Cup and all of Africa was left to mourn the fact that they had been cheated out of a semi-final appearance for the first time in football history.
It’s always good to be dignified, regardless of what aspect of life it is concerned with, whether it is business or sports or academics. No one likes a cheater and a swindler. But what is being done to inform footballers that such behavior is not acceptable and that it is destroying the spirit of the game? Nothing.
Yes, Suarez was sent off. Yes, he will not play the semi final of the World Cup. But is that enough of a punishment for slapping the ball away when it was on its way to the goal? A goal which would have taken Ghana through to the semi finals as it was virtually the last minute of the match. Keeping in mind the consequences, certainly not.
FIFA should effectively step in to save some face, their officials have been ridiculous in their performances so far, their rules have led to this World Cup becoming a joke of a tournament and an exhibition of injustice and cheating.
If FIFA need to do something, it is to first introduce technology into the game to combat controversies, secondly the rule regarding such a blatant hand ball to deny the goal inside the penalty area needs to be changed as well. The perfect fix would be for the rule to be edited from sending the player off to banning the player from a certain number of future games as well in addition to the opposing team being awarded a goal as a result of barefaced cheating tactics.
Anyone who loves football and has regard for justice and fairness will support these changes. Surely no one loves a barefaced cheater? Not even in such morally corrupt times. But who knows, maybe it’s true, maybe the good guys do always finish last.
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