Uruguay striker Luis Suarez said his deliberate extra-time, last-minute handball, which denied Ghana a World Cup semi-final place on Saturday, was the 2010 version of the 'Hand of God'.
JOHANNESBURG: Uruguay striker Luis Suarez said his deliberate extra-time, last-minute handball, which denied Ghana a World Cup semi-final place on Saturday, was the 2010 version of the 'Hand of God'.
Suarez was red-carded by Portuguese referee Olegario Benquerenca for the illegal goal-line clearance which kept out substitute Dominic Adiyah's header but resulted in a Ghana penalty.
However, Asamoah Gyan then sent his penaltyu00a0-- the last kick of the gameu00a0-- crashing off the crossbar to give the Uruguayans a reprieve which they exploited by prevailing 4-2 in the shoot-out that followed.
"This was the end of the World Cup. I had no choice. I have the 'Hand of God' now," said Suarez referring to Maradona's famously scored goal against England at the 1986 World Cup.
"I did it so that my teammates could win the penalty shoot-out. When I saw Gyan miss the penalty it was a great joy," added Suarez, who misses the semi-final against Netherlands.u00a0u00a0
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez defended Suarez's handball that came after his had battled from a goal down to draw 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
"He instinctively put his hand out and was red-carded and misses the next tie. He has paid for his actions. He didn't know Ghana would miss the resulting penalty, so it's not fair to say we cheated."
