In a dramatic quarterfinal match, Ghana came close to becoming the first African side to reach the semi-finals of a FIFA World Cup. Asamoah Gyan, one of the Ghanaian stars at the tournament, missed his 120th minute penalty kick. That miss took the match to kicks from the penalty mark, where Uruguay prevailed. Apart from Gyan's miss, the big talking point was Luis Suarez's handled ball that denied Ghana the winning goal. In a frenetic end to extra time, there was a lot of action in the Uruguay penalty area. The goalkeeper was off his line and out of position when the Ghanaians took a second shot at goal off a rebound. Luis Suarez, the striker, stood on the goal line and made a spectacular goal-line clearance. However, he clearly used his hands to push the ball away - as though he were the goalkeeper. The Portuguese referee spotted the ridiculous infringement and sent Suarez off for denying a goal by handling the ball. History would show that the resultant penalty kick struck the cross bar; Luis Suarez celebrated in the tunnel when he discovered that he saved his team from certain elimination. Nick Webster, of Fox Soccer Channel, suggested that Luis Suarez's action was cheating. Certainly, Suarez's action was not within the ambits of the Laws of the game. That is precisely why the referee took action against him. Not only did Suarez miss the rest of the game (the kicks from the penalty mark at least), but he missed the semi-final against The Netherlands. Suarez's action was the desperate act of a player trying to save his team. He knew that a Ghanaian goal in the 120th minute would leave Uruguay out of the tournament. He had a simple decision to make - allow the goal to go in and guarantee his country's elimination or deny a goal by deliberately handle the ball and give the goalkeeper a chance to save the ensuing penalty kick. Suarez chose the option that many players in his situation might have chosen. What appeared to bother some persons was that his team benefitted from his unsporting behaviour. FIFA's laws indicate that denying a goal by handling the ball is a sending off offence. They put this in place to deal with situations like the one in question. Still, some persons question whether it is fair, especially as Ghana - instead of having a certain goal - faced a high-pressure penalty kick. It is not fair, and that Uruguay benefitted was a travesty. However, Asamoah Gyan got a golden opportunity to create history for Ghana. More often than not, a team earning a penalty kick scores it. Suarez was already punished for his action and he would miss the next match. In light of Uruguay benefitting from the action it still seems unfair. However, FIFA can only rectify that by increasing the suspensions for such offences. Instead of Suarez earning the automatic one-match suspension, he should probably serve a two or three-match suspension instead. However, FIFA would have to address such situations before that can happen.
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