Tears of ‘the devil’

Suarez distraught as Uruguay crash out

Luis Suarez pulled his shirt over his head, hiding his face from the world, as the tears flowed and his shoulders shook with despair.

Here was one of the great pantomime villains, reduced to a sobbing wreck against a country where he is widely seen as “the devil himself ”.

Ghana had reason for their own disappointment, having also failed to qualify, but the “devil’s” tears must have tasted deliciously sweet for a nation that remains scarred by the anguish of 2010.

When Suarez’s aghast face was shown on the big screens, the sight of his suffering prompted a cheer of genuine, unashamed relish from Ghana’s fans. They were going out, but at least they were dragging Suarez and Uruguay with them.

This World Cup has delivered some remarkable storylines and few are more enthralling than the fact that Uruguay were knocked out because of a goal scored by South Korea, in the 91st minute of a match played elsewhere.

The emotion of it all proved too much for Suarez, who knows there will be no more World Cups for him, and as the truth sunk in he seemed to melt into his grief. “Before the game, I thought that my youngest son had seen me in my fourth World Cup, but he did not see me win a game,” Suarez said. “We won, but he leaves with the image of sadness.”

The pain was made worse, surely, by the fact that Suarez had done all he could to send Uruguay through. It was his turn and shot that led to Giorgian de Arrascaeta’s first goal, and his wonderful pass – flicked over his shoulder – that created De Arrascaeta’s second.

Perhaps it was also Suarez’s sheer presence that so disturbed Andre Ayew, the Ghana captain who had the chance to exorcise the demons of 2010 but instead found himself burdened by the weight of history.

Suarez’s infamous handball and the subsequent penalty failures had cost Ghana back then. Their inability from the spot here, against the same loathed opponent, cost them

once more as Ayew’s tame effort – awarded for Sergio Rochet’s foul on Mohammed Kudus – was saved.

Such was the soap opera-esque drama, there was even the possibility of another twist in the last few seconds. Suarez’s tears were puddling beneath his feet on the bench but his team-mates were fighting on, desperate to score a third.

In the chaotic last minutes, Darwin Nunez and Edinson Cavani went to ground in expectation of a penalty. Another goal would have sent Uruguay through, ahead of a South Korea team who had stunned Portugal, but referee Daniel Siebert rejected both appeals.

Suarez, 35, was drained and exasperated. Some team-mates, however, felt only rage, with Siebert chased down the tunnel by a pack of frothing Uruguayans.

For Suarez, this will surely be the end of him on the global stage. He is now playing for Nacional in Uruguay and evidently no longer has the fitness required to compete at full intensity for 90 minutes. If this was his final flourish in front of the watching world, the people of Ghana will be delighted that it ended in such misery for him.

For months now, ever since the draw was made, Ghana have been craving revenge for the events of 2010, when they were so close to becoming the first African side to reach the last four. Even the country’s president stoked the flames, vowing this year that Uruguay “are going down”.

In the face of this vitriol, Suarez delivered a gorgeously blunt press conference in advance of the game. “The Ghana player missed a penalty,” he said, after refusing to apologise for his handball. “Not me.”

However, just as Uruguay had the knockout stage in their grasp, it was snatched away from them by South Korea. By the time they realised what had happened at Education City Stadium, it was effectively too late, with Siebert rejecting their two penalty appeals.

By this stage, Suarez was just a spectator. The cameras zoomed in, searching for his torment, and nothing could prevent the tears from forming.