Luis Alberto Suarez Diaz A.K.A the single most controversial football player in the world. Out of all the antics Luis Suarez has done the handball against Ghana had the most impact on the game and the tournament as a whole
Suarez has always been controversial in every aspect. One of the very first instances happened in 2007 when he was suspended by his own club Ajax after a halftime dressing-room altercation with Ajax teammate Albert Luque. He was famously accused of racially abusing Patrice Evra and also refused to shake hands with him. He has bitten opposition players on three different occasions. First was PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal when he was at Ajax after that was Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic when he was at Liverpool. The most significant one happened at the World Cup when he bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini.
Luis Suarez is one of the best number 9 football has ever seen. From lighting up the Premier League with Liverpool to being part of the most prolific trio in football with Barcelona to finally grinding it out with Atletico Madrid at the age of 34 Luis Suarez has done it all at club level. His international career has had its own sets of highs and lows.
Suarez was sent off on his international debut against Columbia in 2007. He is the Top Goalscorer and Joint-third most capped player for his national side. The Uruguayan's first major international tournament was the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Uruguay's first group stage match was a goalless draw against France. In the second match, a 3–0 win over South Africa, Suárez drew a penalty and assisted Álvaro Pereira's stoppage-time goal. In the final match of the group stage against Mexico, Suarez scored the only goal and was named Man of the Match.
In the Round of 16 tie against South Korea Luis Suarez scored a brace as Uruguay won the game 2-0. The victory put Uruguay in the World Cup Quarterfinals for the first time since 1970. Uruguay vs Ghana went to extra time after being 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes.
Late in extra time, Ghana sent a free-kick into the penalty area, Luis Suarez blocked Stephen Appiah's shot on the goal line. On the rebound, Dominic Adiyiah's header was heading into the goal, but Suárez blatantly blocked the shot with his hand to save what would have been the extra-time winner. Suarez was sent off but Asamoah Gyan's penalty hit the bar. Suarez was seen celebrating the miss outside the tunnel.
"The Hand of God now belongs to me,” Suarez was quoted as saying at the time. “Mine is the real Hand Of God. I made the best save of the tournament. Sometimes in training, I play as a goalkeeper so it was worth it. There was no alternative but for me to do that and when they missed the penalty I thought It is a miracle and we are alive in the tournament.'' Suarez said.
Many Ghanaian players describe the incident as heartbreaking and disgraceful. Left Back Hans Adu Sarpei said that "He knows what he has done. We were crying and you see someone who has cheated us is celebrating. How can I forgive him? Never. Never ever."
Years later Asamoah Gyan said, "I've forgiven him—it's part of the game." Gyan also said "If it was me, I would have done the same thing. In the last minute, if you're going out, he made himself a hero in his country. It was cheating to handle the ball, but I would do the same."
Suarez was subsequently suspended for the Semi-Final against The Netherlands. Uruguay lost the match 3-2 due to the absence of a second striker to play alongside Diego Forlan. Suarez came back for the third-place game against Germany and provided an assist. He was booed by the fans almost every time he touched the ball. Uruguay lost the game 3-2 and eventually finished fourth.
Suarez was labelled a cheat and a disgrace by some fans while others viewed him as a hero who sacrificed himself so that his country has a better chance of winning.
