Ghana vs Uruguay: Ghana seeking revenge; Uruguay aim to rebound
Ghana will be out for revenge when they take on Uruguay on matchday three of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 12 years after their painful exit in 2010, the Black Stars will look to pick up a vital three points and book their spot in the round of 16. It would be especially sweet for Ghana, who wouldn’t only just get revenge on Uruguay for their loss during the 2010 quarter-finals, but would send Luis Suarez and his colleagues out of the competition.
Suarez, whose handball sparked a dramatic turn of events 12 years ago in South Africa, has further fueled the flames by refusing to apologize for his actions. To be fair, the controversial striker was merely doing everything possible to keep his side in the match when he blocked a shot with hands, resulting in an automatic sending off. Asamoah Gyan, who has since retired, stepped up and failed to covert from the spot, leading the game to eventually go to penalties and Ghana exiting at the quarter-finals stage. Had the Black Stars, namely Gyan, converted his penalty, Ghana would have become the first African side to qualify for the final four in World Cup history.
Revenge will be on Ghana’s minds, but more significant will be securing a round of 16 spot. Fellow African nations Senegal and Morocco are already day, with Morocco topping a group that also included a highly rated (some may say overrated) Belgian side as well as 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia. With Portugal already through, Ghana simply will need a draw in this match to secure safe passage – provided that Korea don’t manage to beat Portugal by a significant margin.
Of course, Ghana will be aiming for more than just a mere draw against a Uruguay side who have been quite poor so far. La Celeste might boast strikers like Edinson Cavani and the aforementioned Suarez, but neither veteran has been able to have an impact as the South Americans have yet to score a goal so far at this World Cup. They were held to a frustrating and drab scoreless draw against South Korea, and were outplayed and outclassed on matchday two by a vastly superior Portugal side – meaning that if Uruguay, who are last in their quartet, want to progress, they will need to obviously not just score, but, for the second time, end Ghana’s World Cup dreams.
As things stand, Ghana do appear to be the side in better form, but the Black Stars’ defense is a major source of concern. Against South Korea, Otto Addo’s side took a 2-0 lead, only to concede twice in rapid succession and need to grab a third goal in order to narrowly edge out their opponents. Hence, they will be wise not to merely rest on their laurels and to approach this game with caution. Uruguay might have failed to ignite so far, but as we have seen at this competition, teams can be slow to get out of the blocks and can turn the entire game on its head in a blink of an eye.
Will Ghana be able to get over this last hurdle and book their spot in the round of 16? Or will Uruguay strike once again to break Ghanaian hearts and end their World Cup dreams early?
