“I wanted to punch Suarez!” Asamoah Gyan, who missed the penalty after Suarez handballed a save to shove Ghana out of 2010 World Cup

Ghana fans have been waiting for their revenge against Uruguay and in particular Luis Suarez this world cup. The reasons we know: in 2010, Suarez would punch the ball away with his hands on the goalmouth, preventing a certain goal. He was sent off, but Asamoah Gyan would miss the penalty, triggering wild celebrations from Suarez that rankles the Ghana fans to the day.
Before we come to what Gyan thought of it, here is a sample from fans’ reactions as published in Ghana newspaper. on the morning of today’s game against Uruguay.
Ghanaian Times quotes Florence Adjei, a student of the Valley View University as saying: “one player I will like the team to go in hard on is Luis Suarez because of how he prevented the Black Stars from making it into the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2010.” Another person said “when I hear Uruguay, the name that comes to mind is Luis Suarez. I really hate that guy even though he played for the team I support which is FC Barcelona and was a legend there.”
Michael Armah, another fan, is quoted thus: “For me, it is a great opportunity for the Black Stars to get revenge against Uruguay for the pain they caused us in 2010. I must confess that it took me like a month to get over that defeat”, Mr Armah says.
In April this year, Asamoah Gyan would be a guest at the radio station Peace FM. Invariably, the penalty miss and Suarez comes up. Post that world cup, Gyan, who played for Sunderland, would play Liverpool where Suarez played.
“When others talked about the incident, it got stuck in my head for a while. When Sunderland played Liverpool, I recall keeping a close eye on him during the handshakes.
“I wanted to punch him because people had spoken things that had gotten into my head, but I realised I had to let it go because if I were Suarez, I would have done the same thing,”
” id=”yt-wrapper-box” >
Just before the world cup at Qatar, he also spoke to Talk Sport. No mention of punches this time, but he would reiterate how he would have done the same had he been in Suarez’s position.
“I always say if I was Suarez I would have done the same thing to save my country. He’s a hero there.
“Although people see him as a cheat, he did what he had to do to get his country to the semi-final. People do hate him, but I’m in the game as well. He did what he had to do to get his country to the semi-final.
“It has been [more than] 10 years now and it still sticks in my mind. It is a pain that I have to live with. He said: “I was the first penalty taker in the team at that time. Any penalty, I was responsible for.  Before that game, against Serbia, I scored 1-0 through a penalty. Second game against Australia a penalty. Third game I didn’t score and then I scored against the USA. I had all the confidence in the world. Going in, there wasn’t any pressure at all. What I was surprised at was my penalty going that high. Normally my penalty doesn’t go that high.”
He would then talk about how it’s the fans who get more affected with such episodes. “Honestly, football players have it in their mind that they have to get revenge but the fans and people behind are pushing that agenda,” Gyan said. “Fans will always be fans. Individually some players might take it personally, I’m not in anyone’s head. Some might say we are going for revenge after what happened in 2010, but we are sportsmen.”
“I’m a football player and I do understand the game. Back home, everybody who watched the game, they dislike him,” Gyan said.

“It’s not my fault…I didn’t miss the penalty” 👀
Uruguay’s Luis Suarez hits back at a reporter who asked if he’s ever considered apologising for his infamous handball in the 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against Ghana. 🇺🇾🇬🇭 pic.twitter.com/xZkWdYQBN0
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) December 1, 2022
“I always say if I was Suarez I would have done the same thing to save my country. He’s a hero there. Although people see him as a cheat, he did what he had to do to get his country to the semi-final. People do hate him, but I’m in the game as well. He did what he had to do to get his country to the semi-final. It has been [more than] 10 years now and it still sticks in my mind. It is a pain that I have to live with.”
He further added, “I was the first penalty taker in the team at that time. Any penalty, I was responsible for. Before that game, against Serbia, I scored 1-0 through a penalty. Second game against Australia a penalty. Third game I didn’t score and then I scored against the USA. I had all the confidence in the world. Going in, there wasn’t any pressure at all. What I was surprised at was my penalty going that high. Normally my penalty doesn’t go that high.”
They both came face-to-face in the Premier League after the incident and Gyan was asked if he had spoken to, or confronted, Suarez.
“He was at Liverpool at the time. I don’t think he spoke English at the time. I never spoke to him under we [Sunderland] played Liverpool and they won 4-2. We just did a handshake. People thought I was going to ignore him, but we had a handshake and that’s it. That’s the only time, but I haven’t spoken to him.”
Coincidentally, Ghana and Uruguay have been drawn in the same group at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but the 36-year-old does not think his country will be out for revenge.
“Honestly, football players have it in their mind that they have to get revenge but the fans and people behind are pushing that agenda,” Gyan said.