The path to Uruguay was quite complicated. A win against Ghana was necessary, but Portugal also had to pray for a point loss to South Korea. Apart from this, if South Korea wins, it would also win by a large margin. The pressure was on Luis Suarez to score more goals throughout the match.
Frustration descended on the Uruguayan dugout as South Korea took a 2-1 lead after 91 minutes. There were still 6 minutes left in the match, then 10 more minutes were added to the added time. Uruguay should have scored 2 more goals in these 16 minutes. That didn’t happen anymore.
Despite a 2-0 win against Ghana, Uruguay was eliminated from the first round after conceding two goals. Portugal and South Korea made it to the last sixteen from ‘the H’ group.
Uruguay was in the thick of numbers ahead of the start of the match at the Al Janoub Stadium. A goalless draw with South Korea and a 2-0 loss to Portugal raised fears of elimination from the group stage. Portugal has already made it to the last sixteen with two wins. Ghana beat South Korea 3-2 in the race for second place. Uruguay with 1-point and South Korea was relatively behind.
Ghana also had a chance to go ahead with a penalty goal in the 21st minute. But Andre Ayew’s weak shot went to Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet. After five minutes, Uruguay got a goal. Suarez’s shot from the side was blocked by Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi. But could not completely eliminate the danger. Georgian Di Arastakayeta, who was nearby, bent his head and poked the ball into the net. Six minutes later, Uruguay’s second goal was scored by Arastakayeta, who plays in the Brazilian league.
Read More: South Korea Beat Portugal 2-1 in the last 16 of the World Cup
Uruguay went into the break with a 2-0 margin. At the same time, in another match between Portugal and South Korea, there was a 1-1 draw. In the end, if the scoreline of the two matches is the same, Uruguay will advance to the second round.
In the 66th minute of the second half, Edinson Cavani was picked up by the Uruguayan coach. Darwin Nunez and Arastakayeta were also taken off in the 80th minute. Then comes the moment of despair. Although they could not increase the number of goals, South Korea got another goal.
A failure to score a single goal in the previous two games has pushed Uruguay back in the points table. Despite losing to Ghana, South Korea advanced by scoring 2 goals. Although there are 4 points in the H group points list, Uruguay has 3 points, South Korea has 2 points.
At the same time, Luis Suarez, the hero of that famous ‘handball’ debate against Ghana 12 years ago, was eliminated from the group stage in his 4th and last World Cup. Luis Suarez couldn’t paint his last World Cup in his mind, so he started crying emotionally after Korea’s goal.
Suarez, who scored both of Uruguay’s goals against Ghana, looked like his old self at the age of 35. But even that was not enough to take Uruguay to the knock-out stage. So, Luis Suarez, the highest scorer in the history of Uruguay, broke down in tears after the match. The sight of his tears wet the eyes of football lovers.