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Sports News of Friday, 3 July 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2010 World Cup: Ghanaians still sad, angry a decade on

Some Ghanaians are still hurt that the Black Stars could not make history play videoSome Ghanaians are still hurt that the Black Stars could not make history

Gently, he walked, picked up the ball, and then fiercely drilled it into the left top corner. The cool and collected figure he cut was a sharp contrast to his posture barely five minutes ago.

Earlier, he had rattled the top bar with a shot from the penalty spot, and his nation’s dream of being the first African nation to make the last four of the World Cup was hanging by a thread due to his inability to connect a Suarez foul.

A teeming group of supporters who were screaming and singing after the penalty was awarded had now crawled back into their shells with a plethora of questions on their minds.

Why didn’t he score the first time? What if Suarez hadn’t palmed the ball like a goalkeeper? What if the referee awarded a goal instead of a penalty?

But as they say ‘it was not meant to be”. Ghana was not meant to be at the semi-final of that tournament and from all indications, their quarter-final finish isn’t going to be bettered anytime soon.

But only one person carried the blame. The man whose extra-time goal sent the nation to the quarters is the same man whose miss ensured that Africa got so close yet so far from a World Cup semi-final.

A decade on from that painful night and the pain is still fresh. Gyan is still bearing the brunt and Suarez remains a hated figure in the country.

A visit by GhanaWeb to streets of Accra to get people’s opinions on that night reveals that not a lot has changed in terms of how people feel about that game.