About That Game is a series looking at the data stories underpinning classic matches. This edition looks back at Uruguay 1-1 Ghana in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a game that saw a continent’s dream crushed courtesy of a penalty shootout victory for La Celeste on African soil.
Uruguay 1930, Italy 1934, South Korea/Japan 2002. One instance on its own could be dismissed as a coincidence, but these three examples expose a strange trend in the World Cup – the first time the tournament is played on a continent, a host country goes deep into the competition.
So, when Africa finally landed the World Cup in 2010, all eyes were on hosts South Africa. If it couldn’t be the hosts, then maybe at least a team from the continent. Connoisseurs of African football were sneaking glances at Cameroon, who were ranked 19th in the world. Hardly anyone gave Ghana a second look.
The Black Stars had only qualified for their second-ever World Cup. Their first experience in 2006 inspired hope as they qualified from a group made up of eventual winners Italy, as well as Czech Republic and the United States – both ranked top five in the world at the time – but the fairytale ended with a reality check as Brazil thumped Ghana 3-0 in the round of 16.
Despite an impressive outing at the World Cup in 2006, Ratomir Dujković resigned after the tournament. Claude Le Roy was appointed but was hastily sacked two years later following Ghana’s failure to win the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations as hosts. Following Sellas Tetteh’s spell on an interim basis, Milovan Rajevac was eventually confirmed as head coach.
Rajevac worked wonders in the space of a few months, reaching the final of the 2009 African Nations Championship and the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. Ghanaian football was on the rise as the U20 team had also won the youth AFCON and World Cup in the same timeframe. In response, Rajevac made the bold decision to promote five members of the U20 team to the World Cup squad: Andre Ayew, Jonathan Mensah, Dominic Adiyiah, Samuel Inkoom and Daniel Agyei.
As a result, Ghana arrived in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup boasting the youngest squad in the competition, with an average age of 23 years, 352 days. What the team lacked in experience, they made up for in fighting spirit and ambition.
Rajevac’s men narrowly qualified from Group D with four points – edging Australia on goal difference. Ghana once again showed their mettle, beating USA for a second consecutive World Cup in a dramatic round-of-16 tie. Asamoah Gyan scored one of the goals of the tournament to send Ghana one step beyond their record in Germany four years prior. Standing between Ghana and a semi-final berth would be a streetwise Uruguayan side.
Unlike Ghana, Uruguay had a more consistent technical bench. Óscar Tabárez was ever-present as the head coach of La Celeste, managing over 200 games over two different stints. It was difficult to imagine Uruguayan football without Tabárez.
He led Uruguay to their only victory in the 1990 World Cup, a narrow 1-0 result over South Korea, which was their first win at the World Cup in two decades. Subsequently, the South Americans went another 20 years without victory until Tabárez returned to beat South Africa in their own back yard at the 2010 World Cup.
Prior to that World Cup, Uruguay had been through a dark period. They missed out on the 2006 World Cup after losing to Australia in the play-offs. The appointment of Tabárez changed their fortunes almost immediately, as Uruguay finished fourth at the 2007 Copa America.
However, they had to go all the way in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, which included a play-off victory over Costa Rica. Consequently, Uruguay went into the World Cup having played more qualifying games to get there than any other team – 20 in total.
One of the storylines of the World Cup in South Africa was the Adidas Jabulani ball, which garnered notoriety for its tendency to fizz about like a wayward firework. Players constantly complained and it wasn’t surprising to see Lionel Messi, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney all end the World Cup with just one goal between them. Possibly just as surprising was how Uruguay’s Diego Forlan mastered the Jabulani and could seemingly hit it with precision from anywhere within sight of goal.
Forlan and Luis Suárez played key roles as Uruguay topped Group A ahead of Mexico, hosts South Africa and France. It was the first time La Celeste had topped a World Cup group since the 1954 edition in Switzerland.
Suárez continued his good form, scoring a brace in the round of 16 to help Uruguay beat South Korea 2-1. The South Americans had their eye on a last four berth for the first time in 40 years, but they had to go through the last African country standing, Ghana.
With the hopes of a continent resting on their shoulders, Ghana faced Uruguay for the first time. The game took place at Soccer City in Johannesburg, the same venue for the final of the competition. A thousand vuvuzelas created a wall of noise that spilled over the stadium walls and reverberated around the continent. For many, this was Africa’s time to shine on the global stage, and the Black Stars had demonstrated they were ready to carry the mantle. Local fans began referring to the team from West Africa as “BaGhana BaGhana,” adapting the nickname of South Africa men’s national team – Bafana Bafana.
The support was such that Nelson Mandela, the first president of South Africa, sent a letter to the president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Kwesi Nyantakyi declaring that: “The whole of Africa is behind Ghana. We want you to go on and win the World Cup.”
To do that, the Black Stars had to beat Uruguay without two of their key players, Andre Ayew and Jonathan Mensah, who were both suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards. Isaac Vorsah recovered from injury in time to replace Mensah as Sulley Muntari stepped up in the absence of Ayew.
Muntari had big boots to fill because Ayew had created the most chances (13) and accumulated the most expected assists (1.2) for Ghana at the 2010 World Cup to that point. Conversely, Uruguay’s defensive pillar, Diego Godín, was ruled out of the game due to a thigh injury, while Alvaro Fernandez replaced Alvaro Pereira in midfield.
The game was expected to be closely contested, but the atmosphere in the stadium felt like it could marginally tilt the odds towards Ghana even before a ball was kicked.
However, Uruguay started brighter, with Forlan heavily involved as Ghana struggled to get out of their own half. The former Manchester United striker had adopted a shoot-on-sight approach for the game and nearly caught Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson off guard with a free-kick close to the halfway line.
Tabárez’s men thought they had taken the lead after 15 minutes when Forlan’s corner deflected off John Mensah but a point blank save from Kingson denied them. It was a heart-in-mouth moment for the Black Stars, especially because Soccer City had already witnessed two own goals during the tournament from Denmark and South Korea.
Ghana had to wait until the 20th minute for their first touch in Uruguay’s penalty box. The crowd was visibly edgy, and they started a Mexican wave to encourage the tempo of the game. Seconds later, Suárez was at the other end of the field, dribbling past Vorsah before unleashing a fierce volley that was tipped over the bar by the experienced Kingson, who was fourth choice goalkeeper at Premier League club Wigan Athletic at the time.
Uruguay were showing no signs of fatigue, despite playing the most qualifiers and playing in five different cities across South Africa during the tournament. Ghana won their first corner of the game in the 30th minute with the corner count at 6-1 in favour of the Uruguayans. Muntari delivered an in-swinging delivery that saw Vorsah – a man linked with a move to Stoke City – leap above Diego Lugano only to send his header inches wide.
It was the spark Ghana needed as they went on to assert themselves in the final 15 minutes of the half. Perhaps their dominance coincided with the injury to Uruguay captain Lugano, who was replaced by Andres Scotti.
Ghana were in the ascendancy and Gyan should have scored his fourth goal of the tournament after purposeful wing play from Kevin-Prince Boateng, but his side foot effort from around the penalty spot went just wide. At that point, Uruguay were struggling to deal with Ghana’s positional play as Boateng, Muntari and Kwadwo Asamoah found space in the middle of the park time and again.
With just a few minutes left before the half-time break, the crowd started to boo Suárez after he asked for Vorsah to be carded following a collision from an aerial duel. Both players confronted each other after the free-kick and Suárez tripped the Ghanaian defender – an incident that could have been revisited by the VAR in the modern game. Referee Olegário Benquerença warned the players that similar action would see them sent off.
Ghana were eager to score before the break as some crisp passing between Muntari, Asamoah and Boateng led to Gyan having Ghana’s first shot on target – albeit a rather tame effort from about 30 yards.
Ghana’s press was intense and they quickly won the ball back in the Uruguayan’s half. Industrious play on the wings from 20-year-old Inkoom found Boateng with a cross but he mistimed an acrobatic attempt and saw his effort sail into the stands.
The pattern would become a familiar sight, as Ghana sought to create from the wings. Twelve years after the epic match, Inkoom told Opta Analyst that coach Milovan slotted him into the team primarily due to his crossing ability.
“Before the Uruguay game, Rajevac told me to try to cross each time because I have a good cross and Asamoah Gyan is dominant in the air,” Inkoom said.
Prior to the Uruguay game, Inkoom had made nine open-play crosses for Ghana in just two games, which was only behind Andre Ayew (13) and John Pantsil (16).
The game looked like it would head into the break goalless until Gyan laid off a pass to Muntari in the middle of the park. The Inter midfielder unleashed a powerful shot from 35 yards that swerved away from Muslera and nestled in the back of the net. For Muntari, the goal sent a pointed statement, because he would not have played at the World Cup had it not been for Nyantakyi. The GFA president in an interview with Joy Sports revealed he had to “kneel” in front of coach Rajevac to plead for Muntari to be included in the squad.
Now, a player who was almost an outcast had sent the entire African continent into ecstasy. Fifty-four African nations and their West African representatives were just 45 minutes away from history. A look at the xG at half-time read 0.19 for Uruguay, 0.40 for Ghana – perhaps suggesting that the hosts had every right to start to dream.
But it was still premature to start celebrating and the players knew it, as they quickly mobilised to form a circle on the pitch. The message? Keep your heads in the game. Senior players like John Pantsil, Kevin-Prince Boateng and John Mensah kept pinning both index fingers on their head. Mensah, who had the armband, kept shouting “concentration”.
Unsurprisingly, Ghana made no changes heading into the second half. Uruguay, on the other hand, replaced Alvaro Fernandez with attacking midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro.
Although Ghana began the second half right where they left off, it was Uruguay who scored against the run of play. Forlan stepped up and converted his fifth shot of the game after his free-kick fooled Kingson to bring Uruguay level.
The small section of Uruguayan fans went berserk, as the majority of the 80,000+ African fans present went silent. It was Forlan’s 27th goal for La Celeste – potentially the most crucial one he had scored to that point. Kingson looked disappointed, especially because Ghana had come to rely on him, with the Wigan goalkeeper making 15 saves in the tournament prior to the Uruguay game.
Despite the South Americans starting to take control, Gyan was presented with a half chance after a pass from Boateng, but the Black Stars’ talisman saw his near-post effort saved by Muslera.
The game grew more and more into a back-and-forth scrap, with both sides taking turns to attack. The best chance of the half fell to Uruguay with about 20 minutes left to play. Forlan and Suárez came close to recreating their first goal against South Korea in the round of 16. Forlan floated a pin-point cross but Suárez’s effort marginally missed the goal, brushing the side netting.
Minutes later, Suárez saw his poked effort parried by Kingson before Gyan benefitted from a defensive mistake on the other end to force a save from Muslera with his first-time volley. Well-constructed moves, poor execution – that was the story of the final 15 minutes as both sides couldn’t be separated after 90 minutes.
For the second consecutive game, Ghana went into extra-time without showing any signs of slowing down, as they continued to dominate proceedings. Gyan was on the end of almost everything and attempted the most shots (10) in the game.
With extra-time flying by without each side creating a decent opening, a moment of madness preceded the final whistle.
Ghana were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the box with seconds remaining. Pantsil’s delivery was flicked on dangerously by Boateng. Muslera came out but didn’t gather as the ball came off Mensah’s head. The ball fell into the path of Appiah whose shot was cleared off the line. The rebound was then headed by Adiyiah. Time stopped in the stadium as the ball seemed destined for the back of the net, until Suárez stuck out his hand to swat the ball away, leading inevitably to a penalty, a red card for Suárez, and a golden chance for Ghana to win it.
Referee Olegario Benquerenca was a replacement for the initially appointed Howard Webb. You barely see referees switched but the English official was removed by FIFA after a Uruguayan referee team, led by Jorge Larrionda, came under criticism after England’s 4-1 defeat to Germany when Frank Lampard’s shot that had clearly crossed the line was not given. FIFA thought with Uruguay in action, it would be prudent to eliminate any English connection.
Gyan picked up the ball and placed it on the spot as history beckoned the Black Stars forward. Since missing a penalty against Czech Republic in 2006, the then 24-year-old had gone on to score all of his seven penalties for club and country, including two before this at the 2010 World Cup. Gyan went for power, but too much power as it turned out as his effort smashed the tip of the crossbar.
The stadium went so quiet that all you could hear were the Uruguayan players chanting and congratulating Muslera. One moment the stadium was ready to erupt, the next the fans had to hold their breath for a penalty shootout. Ghana hadn’t participated in a shootout since the AFCON final 18 years prior, which they lost 11-10 to Ivory Coast.
Forlan and Gyan both scored their respective opening penalties. The next three penalties were successful, meaning Ghana had to score to equalise. Mensah opted for a short run up and saw his feeble effort saved by Muslera. This was no surprise, considering it was the only penalty he ever taken in his career.
Two missed penalties followed, which meant that Uruguay only needed to score one more to win the game. Up stepped Sebastian Abreu, nicknamed El Loco – the crazy one. He was with Bologna at the time – his 17th club – and if Uruguay needed an experienced head, there was none better than Abreu. He went for a chip down the centre, fooling Kingson who moved out of the way. Africa was crestfallen as Uruguay rejoiced.
“I’d been watching their keeper and I saw that he was diving before the penalty taker struck the ball. Given that a place in the semi-finals was at stake I didn’t think he was likely to stand still,” Abreu revealed 12 years later.
The quote above was part of FIFA’s build-up to the 2022 World Cup because there was a replay of the ‘Hand of God 2.0’ – as it is popularly called now – in Qatar that year. The clash in the final Group H game was a chance at revenge for Ghana, but one that ultimately ended in disappointment yet again.
In the build up to the 2022 game, Suárez continued to be unapologetic about the incident in 2010, with incendiary quotes such as “The ‘Hand of God’ now belongs to me” and “I made the best save of the tournament.”
Suárez was the only player in the Uruguay starting XI on 2 December 2022 that was also in the 2010 Uruguayan squad for the World Cup, and he played a part in a 2-0 victory over the Ghanaians in Al Rayyan.
Indeed, Suárez played a major role in both of Uruguay’s goals scored by Giorgian de Arrascaeta in the 2-0 win on Matchday 3 of the group stage, but it was in vain as Uruguay joined Ghana in being eliminated from the 2022 group stage. This time, Suárez left the pitch in tears of despair rather than joy.
You can enjoy this game in its entirety, as FIFA have uploaded the full match footage here.
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About That Game: Uruguay 1-1 Ghana (2010) Opta Analyst.
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