WC 2010 QF: Uruguay vs Ghana [P + R]

[ShiftyPowers]

As for the Ghanaians that are responsible for this loss, they are (in order of decisiveness):
1. Kingson: terrible performance at the penalties; he should know that if the penalty kick taker is right footed, you should dive on your left [unless you see something compromising (i.e.:he looks at a side of the goal)].

LOL. When I was playing I never missed a penalty in about 10 attempts. You know how I did it? As I walked up to the spot I stared down a corner virtually the whole time and REALLY stared at it on my run up. Of course, then I hit it to the other side. I never really even hit the ball hard, or placed it particularly well, but the keeper always took the bait.

 

[smf_fede]

I prefer the brazillian style of penalty shooting, i mean, put your body on a clear intention to shoot to one side, and then open the feet to shoot to the other side, works everytime, just tried once the Abreu's "picada" and was fantastic, but must have class and guts to do it on important games

 

[jumbo]

Penalties are a lottery. Football is a team game. 120 min of team effort to be decided by 5 minutes of individual contribution is stupid. You think they would have come up with a better solution after 100 years now...

 

[Daniel David]

FIFA chose not to go politically correct by extending the ban of Suarez on the grounds of overzealous bragging, and so he will be able to play the final/3rd place match. Not that I would have minded either way, but surprising nevertheless.

Still about the incident, a piece of hysterically bad journalism by Telegraph and a far more interesting comment from goal.com (Dutch folks: is Suarez that much of a divisive player in the Eredvisie?)

 

[Kibe Kru]

I think Suarez did the right thing, he saved the match for his team by sacrificing himself. I think if anything he deserves praise for the fact he was willing to put his own tournament on the line in a last effort to save his team. it would've been a certain goal and with a deciding penalty in the last minute you never know if someone hits or misses, which showed yesterday.

Agreed. He did what he had to do, and I'd like to be in a team where any of my team mates would do that in the dying minutes if needed. It's not like a new rule was created to cheat Ghana out of the tournament.

Kewell did almost the same thing against Ghana, but no one gives a damn about it... Just score your damn penalties.....

 

[Mandieta6]

That opens the door for you to justify any foul play because it involves taking one for the team. Henry was lampooned for his hand-ball, so getting punished for your foul play makes you a hero, getting away with it makes you a villain.

Fou play is foul play, and Suarez should not be allowed to play in the next matches, there's nothing more unsporting than consciously breaking the rules of the game like what he did.

We would all ike to have that happen for us, because we all want to win, but to praise a cheater is ridiculous. Divers do no more wrong than what Suarez did, and they get villified.

 

[Kibe Kru]

No, we hate cheaters because they mostly get away with it. Henry got away with it. Suarez was sent off, and had a penalty awarded against his side, with no chance to get even. Sure, it's cruel, and I don't think anyone deserves to go out of a tournament like that, but then again, score your f'n penalties and it's a no issue.

EDIT: You can't have rules changed because events occurred in the dying minutes of a match. Deny an obvious goalscoring opportunity, and it's a red. 1st minute, 45th, or 120+...

 

[jumbo]

Suarez "didn't get away with it" but his team did. Ghana had the ball heading for the net, genius.

 

[Kibe Kru]

Suarez "didn't get away with it" but his team did. Ghana had the ball heading for the net, genius.

And they had a penalty in the 120th minute of the match......

 

[Mandieta6]

Penalty is not a synonym for goal.

 

[Kibe Kru]

Should Ghana have been awarded a goal then?

Edit: I understand that's not the point you made originally, but don't blame Suarez for Ghana's incompetence to score from the spot

 

[Mandieta6]

Ghana's incompetence to score a pen should not be an issue. Their competence on the field in general is what's supposed to matter, and if that was the case, they would be in the semis.

The point isn't whether Uruguay won or not, it's about Suarez being praised for cheating.

 

[Xifio]

I'm 100% with Az on this one!

though I accept that it is virtually impossible to make this particular rule any other way without running into even more problematic issues ...

I was away from the forums for a couple of day, so I'll express my heartache for Ghana's tragic exit now ...

and my disgust for Luis Suárez (who, I think it is known, I rate highly for his talent) due to the exuberantly shameless pride he has expressed at his actions ...

 

[Kibe Kru]

Ok, I agree with you that he shouldn't be praised for unsportsmanlike behaviour. I just understand why he did it, and it seems you do too.

The point I disagree is when you call him a cheater. He broke the rules, yes. He did it intentionally, yes. He also got caught, and accepted his punishment. Maybe the rules are too lenient, and Ghana should have been awarded a goal? Maybe. I disagree, as even with clear rules on goals we still have problems like Lampard knows full well.

The way I see it, it's no different than when a keeper rushes out of his box, but is beaten by the striker, who proceeds to lob him. Knowing the rules, and the fact that the ball would eventually enter the goal, he sticks out his hand to stop it, and is sent off. Did the goalie cheat? I don't think so. If he claimed it hit his chest, yes, it'd be cheating to me. But I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[Back Door Skip]

I don't think we would be talking about this had the penalty been made. It would have just been looked as a bonehead move by Suarez.

 

[Mandieta6]

Ok, I agree with you that he shouldn't be praised for unsportsmanlike behaviour. I just understand why he did it, and it seems you do too.

The point I disagree is when you call him a cheater. He broke the rules, yes. He did it intentionally, yes. He also got caught, and accepted his punishment. Maybe the rules are too lenient, and Ghana should have been awarded a goal? Maybe. I disagree, as even with clear rules on goals we still have problems like Lampard knows full well.

The way I see it, it's no different than when a keeper rushes out of his box, but is beaten by the striker, who proceeds to lob him. Knowing the rules, and the fact that the ball would eventually enter the goal, he sticks out his hand to stop it, and is sent off. Did the goalie cheat? I don't think so. If he claimed it hit his chest, yes, it'd be cheating to me. But I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

I'm not suggesting Ghana were to be awarded a goal. The rules don't need changing. I don't think there's even a debate to be had regarding whether what Suarez did was cheating. A punished cheater is still a cheater, and considering that Uruguay are potential champions, I think Suarez should receive additional punishment. Missing a few seconds of a match and the next one is hardly punishment at all, since he will still be able to play in the next match. A match that he wouldn't have been able to play had he not cheated. All things considered, Suarez's cheating benefits him and Uruguay tremendously. Any punishment a cheater receives is meant to balance out the advantage he incurred by cheating, and balance isn't restored here. Heck, he gets the same punishment Muller got for getting 2 yellows in 5 matches.

Your example IS cheating. The goalie would be cheating. For the goalie to then lie would be a peripheral extension of his cheating. A different example could be if a manager put 12 players on the field instead of 11. Admitting it, lying about it, getting caught or getting away with it doesn't alter the fact that it's cheating. Cheating is unfair. Unfair is bad.

 

[Xifio]

The way I see it, it's no different than when a keeper rushes out of his box, but is beaten by the striker, who proceeds to lob him. Knowing the rules, and the fact that the ball would eventually enter the goal, he sticks out his hand to stop it, and is sent off.

I'll leave Az to discuss the "cheater" issue, but I think the situation you've described here is markedly different to what the goal-line handball ... in one situation, the striker still has to put the ball into the net -- and while it would most likely happen, there is still the possibility that he could miss ... but with the goal-line deliberate handball block, there is absolutely no possibility that it wasn't heading into the net for a goal ... and I think that is an extremely significant difference! EDIT: but, under current rules, both situations result in the exact same punishments handed out, which is not OK by me ...

I've thought about it, and I have come to the conclusion that deliberate handballs on the goal-line should be given as a goal ... yellow card for the deliberate handball, as it would be if it were committed on any other part of the pitch ...

EDIT 2: the only analogy I can think of for this is the LBW rule in cricket ... but as a Brazilian, I don't expect you to know what that is (though I would be impressed) ...

 

[Kibe Kru]

If that's what you consider cheating, then yes, he cheated. To me, cheating is trying to deceive, and Suarez didn't do that.

 

[smf_fede]

So, for those who want to sent off Suarez from the WC, i see non of you blaming at Piqué for his penalty, it surely would be a header goal from Cardozo, but Piqué grab him, made the penalty, and then Cardozo fails that penalty.

-None of you blame Tevez for scoring on offside against Mexico, that was against the rules too.
-None of you blames Ghana for the penalty against USA, must let the american shoot right, 'cause penalty makers are cheaters right?
-the australian hand at the end of the match against Serbia, that was a penalty and would qualified Serbia instead Ghana
-the offside goal of New Zealand against Italy, or the annulled goal of Italy against Slovakia, sure, Italy plays pretty ugly so better be off the playoffs right?
-the korean handball against Uruguay stopping the shot of Maxi Pereira, that penalty was no conceded, oh, i forgot, it was Uruguay, better no call penalties to us.
-the 2 times handball of Luis Fabiano against Ivory Coast, i don't see 4 pages demanding senting him off the WC since that game

I think i made my point, first, Suarez stopped a goal from a non-existent free kick conceded to Ghana to had a last chance to win.
For those who don't see that free kick, or those who need glasses, take a look at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUwhRR5HKuY

An also, it was offside from Nº10 of Ghana on that free kick, on the first header, Nº10 was on offside, he shooted later when Suarez saves the goal first with his leg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eq1g9bgz7c&feature=related

And the penalty from Patsil to Abreu in the extra time, didn't called
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7F8dCIYIVM

So, after all these previous plays that i'd explained, if you STILL want to blame Suarez, better first blame Luis Fabiano, Piqué, Ghana, New Zealand, Tevez and so, demand raping from Holland (nice one), demand the creation of new rules against those teams and the expulsion of the this WC and the next one for all that previous teams and players, then, and so then, demand the expulsion of Suarez and all that sort of things!

So, after all of that i think the trial is over right? Suarez stopped an injustice.
That's all, peace, vamos Uruguay!

 

[Mandieta6]

We do condemn all of those acts of cheating, even those they're clearly not the same (e.g Pique penalty was a simple goal-scoring opportunity for goal-scoring opportunity swap). The thing is that Suarez is portrayed as a hero for cheating.

Your sig sums up everything that is wrong with this situation. Why not celebrate the player who ran that little bit faster, allowing him to score, thanks to steroids, or the guy who injured the key rival player, allowing his team to win?

I apologise for people not making a big deal out of EVERY controversial call, but it doesn't excuse Suarez's actions, nor does it mean that we can't make a big deal out of this situation.