Asamoah Gyan, Ghana’s all-time leading scorer, has admitted that he nearly assaulted Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
With the former FC Barcelona striker handling a goal-bound shot from Dominic Adiyiah in the closing moments of a quarterfinal match between Ghana and Uruguay, the enigmatic Suarez stood between the Black Stars and a semifinal berth at the global showpiece.
Suarez’s handball resulted in his dismissal, and Ghana was awarded a penalty; however, Asamoah Gyan, who had previously scored two spot-kicks in the tournament, missed the subsequent opportunity.
Gyan’s failed penalty in the dying minutes of added time was a major setback for the Black Stars, who went on to lose in penalty shootouts.
Suarez has been demonized and nicknamed “Public Enemy No. 1” in Ghana since the event, and given that Ghana is in the same World Cup group as Uruguay in 2022, many Ghanaians have dubbed the match a vengeance match.
Asamoah Gyan, Ghana’s top scorer, has been troubled by the aftermath of the 2010 event, and while reminiscing about the 12-year incident, Gyan revealed that he wanted to punch Suarez when the two met in an English Premier League game.
“I wanted to punch him when I was at Sunderland, to be honest.” They came to shake our hands since we (Sunderland) were playing a home game versus Liverpool. To be honest, I wanted to attack him when he got close to me because of the things people said to me, but I opted to keep my calm.”
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