Today’s quarterfinal matchup between Ghana and Uruguay produced the most interested end to a World Cup game this year.
To recap what happened, there was less than 15 seconds left in the game, and Ghana had one last free kick before the game went into a penalty shootout. There was a resulting scramble in the box, with many shots/headers on goal. At the end, a header went on goal and was finally deliberately blocked with the hands of Luis Suarez. He was given a red card and will miss the next game. Had he not blocked it with his hands, it was a sure goal. Ghana was given a penalty shot, but it was then missed. Ghana went on to lose in the shootout.
A lot of people have been criticizing Suarez for cheating and many people have called for a ban or what not. A lot of people have even compared him to Thierry Henry, and his cheating incident by scoring a goal with his hand.
Do I have any problem with what Suarez did? No. On the contrary, I applaud him for what he did. He knew what the rules were, and he decided to play by them with the whole world to see. He knew that if he used his hands in the box, he would get a red card and a suspension for the next game. He knew that he would give up a resulting penalty kick where Ghana could still win. He knew too that this was the only way to give his team a chance at survival. He took one for his country, and his gambled paid off after Ghana missed the resulting penalty kick.
This happens all the time in American sports. In basketball, when a player is on a fast break and has an easy path to the basket, he sometimes intentionally fouled so that he doesnt get these “free points”. The fouled player then just gets to shoot 2 free throws as a result. In hockey, when a player is on a breakaway, he is often times tripped up as a last resort to save a goal. This player is then awarded a penalty shot. In football, if a receiver has a clear shot at the ball and the defender is beat, the defender will purposefully foul the receiver. The defender will then be called for a pass interference penalty and his team is at a disadvantage.
In all these cases, the defender purposefully sacrifices himself for the team so that the other team doesnt get an easy or sure score. In all situations, the defender knows that there will be retribution of some type, whether that be free throws, penalty shot, or field position. But in each case, he knows that these none of these are “gimme points.” He knows that free throws or a penalty shot can be missed. He knows that better field position might not lead to points. Its a gamble that the player is willing to take.
Now back to Suarez, he did the exact same thing. He sacrificed himself, and everything worked out perfectly. Suarez did something wrong. He was caught. A penalty kick was given, Ghana couldnt capitalize, and there’s no controversy what so ever.
However, I guarantee you things would have been a lot different had the referees not called the penalty and given the red card. All hell would have broken loose, and Suarez would have been vilified by the entire world for cheating. Im actually scared to imagine what would have happened had the refs not seen the handball.
Did he cheat? I would say no. Again, I applaud him tremendously for what he did. If he wasnt caught, would I have a problem with the situation? Yes, but not because of what he did, but because of the inadequacies of the refereering that didnt spot the penalty to begin with.
What do you think?
Obsessedsportsnut's Blog 
Totally agree!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m sorry, but that’s a lawful resource!!! You can get out the ball however you want, facing -of course- the consequences of it! People love Maradone and call him the “hand of God”, now, Luis Suarez is the new “hand of God”. The difference is that Luis Suarez paid the consequences for that action, Maradona didn’t. GO URUGUAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Valentine — July 2, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
i completely agree–world cup only happens every 4 years, your team has to survive to have a chance to advance, so you pull out all the stops strategically. but agreed, if the handball wasn’t caught, FIFA would have a LOT to answer for.
Comment by Judy — July 2, 2010 @ 6:09 pm
I disagree, this is blatant cheating, in soccer it is very difficult to score and a team should not be denied a clear goal by a cheat not with the stakes so high. I hope FIFA changes some of the rules for 2014 and brings in goal line technology i’e. England’s goal. And award a goal if the last defender handles the ball on the goaline. It should be an automatic goal.
Comment by J Garcia — July 2, 2010 @ 6:12 pm
call it what you want. be okay with what he did. but it’s still cheating. basketball, football, soccer – whatever sport you want to use to defend your argument and make it okay… they are cheating too. the question here is not whether it was okay or whether you agree or disagree with what he did. the question is whether he is a cheater. Yes, he is a cheater.
Comment by right — July 2, 2010 @ 7:31 pm
Wow that was the best post re:Suarez’ handball. Good job analyzing it. I couldn’t have said it any better. I will re-post this, if that’s okay with you mate.
Comment by mithfalath — July 2, 2010 @ 8:37 pm
[…] a critic myself about the now-famous Luis Suarez’ handball, but this guy has written probably the best post there is. Very well […]
Pingback by Ghana vs Uruguay « ~Hanamuke no Merodii — July 2, 2010 @ 8:43 pm
absolutely agree and had it not been spotted, i’d have just felt sorry for the poor referee – the fella’s a human too (in reference to the england’s game vs germany). but i would never had felt sorry for ghana or any other team in that situation. it was a great show and no one’s gotta feel sorry or angry for anything … the opportunity presented to a team and it took it. ghana would not have been in that situation had they converted their chances to begin with … read more at my blog please let me know what you think …
You’ve written well and i’ve posted a link for your blog on my blog! but i disagree on one thing though, its not that everyone things suarez cheated … the opinion is fairly in favor of what he did from what i have read so far.
Comment by HarryCool — July 2, 2010 @ 10:12 pm
[…] http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hq1zJklzOdtQwGQvSh46Kozebndw http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/sports/soccer/03ghanagame.html?_r=1 http://xnoxcluex.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/those-of-you-insulting-luis-suarez-please-shut-up/ https://obsessedsportsnut.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/the-luis-suarez-handball-cheating-or-not/ […]
Pingback by The African Tragedy « South Africa 2010 — July 2, 2010 @ 10:21 pm
[…] http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hq1zJklzOdtQwGQvSh46Kozebndw http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/sports/soccer/03ghanagame.html?_r=1 http://xnoxcluex.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/those-of-you-insulting-luis-suarez-please-shut-up/ https://obsessedsportsnut.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/the-luis-suarez-handball-cheating-or-not/ […]
Pingback by The African Tragedy « Harrycool — July 2, 2010 @ 11:25 pm
[…] lines of this world cup, none of which was more controversial than Luis Suarez’s handball incident during the Ghana vs Uruguay […]
Pingback by World Cup 2010: The quarterfinal rounds « Obsessedsportsnut's Blog — July 6, 2010 @ 12:40 am
the player paid for the actions. However, we got cheated, the ghanians didnt. We were robbed off a penalty on Abreu, given unfair yellow cards and our players got kicked all night long.
Comment by Alex — July 6, 2010 @ 10:16 am
Discussion seems over but anyway, it seems that as though he played within the rules (and used them to his advantage), he disrespected the spirit of the rules, which I think is what most protesters are protesting. I suppose one close analogy would be goaltending in basketball – you can deny the shot early on but can’t block the ball as it’s approaching the rim. In this instance he was blocking what would clearly have been a goal. SI suggested implementing a goaltending-type rule.
Comment by pekkle — July 11, 2010 @ 12:31 pm