Tied at 1-1 deep into overtime, Ghana was peppering the Uruguay goal as it looked to find a winner and become the first ever African nation to reach a World Cup semifinal.
Dominic Adiyiah appeared to have done it when he headed the ball toward a Uruguay net devoid of a goalkeeper with only seconds to spare.
But Suarez, who was standing the on the goal line, deliberately used his hands to stop the ball going in. Ghana was awarded a penalty and Suarez was sent off.
Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan missed the spot kick, sending the tie to a shootout and prompting wild celebrations from Suarez on the touchline.
Uruguay went on to win the shootout 4-2.
“We hate him. And we want revenge.”
On Friday, 12 years since that fateful day, Ghana finally has a chance to exact its revenge on Suarez and Uruguay when the two sides meet in Qatar in the final round of Group H games.
Ghana need only to point to ensure Uruguay, sitting in the bottom of the group, is eliminated, while a win would book its own place in the last 16 as well as knock out Uruguay.
“This is the one that we have to win, we have to just to do it, and then it’s over,” the former Ghana striker Kwesi Appiah told BBC Sport Africa.
“It just makes up for 2010. I’ll never ever think about Uruguay ever again. It will be just like we’ve just laid some old demons to rest, and it’s over.”
The former Ghana defender John Paintsil added: “I will say it will be a payback time to get out from the group. We must beat Uruguay at all costs.”
While Ghana’s former players are adamant on revenge against Uruguay, the current head coach Otto Addo is remaining a little more level-headed, at least for now.
Addo said Thursday that while the memory of 2010 still lingers, his team must treat Friday’s game as any other if it wants to win.
“Like everyone, I was also really sad in 2010 when that incident happened and we missed our chance to proceed to the semis,” Addo told reporters.
“But it’s 12 years ago, and Friday will be a different match with a different approach. We are confident enough to know that we can beat them and make it to the next round,” he added.
Addo has good reason to be confident. While Ghana lost 3-2 to Portugal in its opening match in Qatar, Addo’s side put on a stellar display and was unlucky not to have scored a last gasp equalizer as striker Iaki Williams slipped on the turf with the goal at his mercy.
In its second Group H match, the Black Stars beat South Korea 3-2, though the scoreline suggests the match was a much tighter affair than it really was.
Forward Mohammed Kudus was Ghana’s star in that match, finding the net twice, and against Uruguay, the 22-year-old is hoping he can do the same.
“We are approaching one game at a time, and we got the three points today and the focus is on Uruguay so we go with the same mentality and the same attitude and I know everyone is up for it,” he said Wednesday.
As if Ghana needed any more motivation for Friday’s crunch match, Suarez himself stoked the flames on Thursday by refusing to apologize for the incident in 2010.
According to BBC Sport, a Ghanaian journalist said to Suarez that many people in Ghana consider him “the devil himself” and look forward to him retiring.
The former Liverpool and FC Barcelona striker, who now plays in his home country for Club Nacional de Football, responded by saying: “I don’t apologize. I take the handball. But the Ghana player missed the penalty. Not me.
“Maybe I apologize if I injured a player and get a red card. But in this situation, I take the red card. The [referee] said penalty. It’s not my fault. Because I didn’t miss the penalty.”
“It’s not my responsibility to shoot the penalty,” the 35-year-old added.
