Africa no longer has a representative in the tournament and its last hope faded as a result of the Black Star’s failure to become the first team from this host continent to reach the semi-finals.
Sulley Muntari’s rocket in first half stoppage time afforded Ghana a lead but they were unable to hold on to it in the second half. Uruguay, who were far from their best, found an equaliser through a Diego Forlan free-kick which cleverly deceived Richard Kingson. Wigan’s fourth choice stopper has played more football at this World Cup than in his last five seasons at club level and he never looked entirely assured between the sticks.
Extra time ensued after a tired second half but things livened up in the additional half an hour, with Ghana looking like the better side and pressing for a winner to avoid penalties. Cue one of the most eventful endings to extra time ever seen.
It was obvious after Diego Forlan’s first effort that Uruguay was going to win on penalties. Kingson was diving far too early – and always the same side down to his right – so, short of missing the target, La Celeste’s men were guaranteed goals.
Luis Suarez will rightly be cast as the villain of the piece for his part in Ghana’s demise. Thierry Henry was vilified for a handball against Ireland in the play-offs, which cost the Emerald Isle a place at the World Cup. Ajax striker Suarez has cost Ghana (and Africa) a first semi-final and his action was far more deliberate than Henry’s instinctive deceit.
Would anyone else do any different? Perhaps not. Uruguay won, after all, as a direct result of his intervention. Unlike Henry, Suarez was called to account on the pitch but I think FIFA should look at it and see if it is worth more than the compulsory one-match ban.
His celebrations on the pitch after the shoot-out were totally unacceptable. Having been sent off, Luis Suarez should not have been allowed back out to be hailed as the hero of the day by his team mates. He should have kept his head down and stayed in the dressing room.
I like to think that in England Suarez’s cheating would not go without a reprimand and would be the cause of considerable public embarrassment and distaste. Maybe I’m being naïve. In Uruguay he will, no doubt, be beatified for his role in Uruguay’s success.
Meanwhile, in the other game, we were treated to the shock exit of the bookmakers’ (not my) favourite for this competition, Brazil.
It was all going to plan for Dunga at half time. Joris Mathijsen’s injury in the warm-up meant that Blackburn Rovers’ Andre Ooijer deputised at centre back next to Everton’s Johnny Heitinga and it was hardly the ideal pairing against the five time World Cup winners, as was ruthlessly exposed when Robinho drifted in behind a wide open defence to sweep home Brazil’s opener.
Holland was getting little joy in the attacking third in the first half as anticipated. Their major outlet and great hope to damage Dunga’s formidable defensive unit, Arjen Robben, was not firing on all cylinders and Michel Bastos was not having too much trouble marking him. In fact, it was Gregory van der Wiel behind Robben who had all the work to do, as Bastos sought to get forward at every opportunity and Robinho and Kaka also spent much of the time operating on the left side of the pitch.
It was not a spell-binding first half. Brazil successfully stifled the Dutch attack and looked comfortable on the ball. Everything was going to script. But Bert van Marwijk’s team were not finished and the second half turned out to be a stunning example of the sort of excitement and shock that has been lacking in this World Cup.
The shape/personnel did not change at half time, but van Marwijk’s team talk obviously lifted The Flying Dutchmen, and gave them the much needed focus that was lacking before the break. Holland finally seemed to have an actual game plan, which was to throw all their efforts into targeting the weakest part of Brazil’s defensive rampart. That meant attacking down the right, putting pressure on Michel Bastos and Felipe Melo, and drawing free kicks for reckless challenges on the tricky Robben, who was suddenly involved as often as possible after a disappointing first half.
Brazil were sucked into this pattern and it completely threw them off their game. Michel Bastos was fortunate not to be dismissed for a string of late tackles and Felipe Melo was eventually sent-off for stamping, but not before he had a big hand in Holland’s equaliser.
It was a day of heroes and villains, as we saw in the Uruguay vs Ghana match, but no one volunteered themselves for as much ignominy as Juventus midfielder Felipe Melo, who scored an own-goal and then got sent off to guarantee Brazil’s demise.
With a numerical advantage, Holland pretty much ran Brazil ragged and could have scored more than the modest one goal needed to seal the tie. That one came again from a set piece, but this time the credit goes to van Marwijk’s men for a cleverly worked routine. Robben directed a near post corner at Dirk Kuyt who flicked the ball on into the six yard box where Holland’s hero of the piece, Wesley Sneijder, was on hand to direct the ball home with a glancing header.
What a season Sneijder has had and it should get better as Bert van Marwijk’s side are now clear favourites to make it to the final ahead of their vulnerable looking semi-final opponents Uruguay. If they make it to the showpiece game at Soccer City on July 11th, Holland will probably revert to their status as underdogs, but, as they showed against Brazil, it is a status they revel in.
As in rugby, where a deliberate intervention leads to a team not scoring a try, why can't we introduce a penalty goal where, as in this case, a goal is awarded to the team that has been the victim of such a disgraceful and unadulterated display of cheating. It was clearly heading in, yet Uruguay have been allowed to get away with having two keepers. Fair enough, he was sent off, but he shouldn't be banned for the rest of the tournament if not longer? Ghana, on balance, deserved it on the night which made it so much harder to bear. We'd be ashamed if anyone in the England team committed such a heinous crime against fair play. These things should be stamped out of the game, especially incidents of cheating that seem to be encouraged if not accepted in the Latin countries.
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