Uruguay managed to beat Ghana 2-0 to stop them from qualifying for the round of 16 but also failed to progress as South Korea beat Portugal to qualify.
Ghana needed to defeat Uruguay in order to advance to the round of 16 as South Korea faced Portugal. A draw between Portugal and South Korea would have helped Uruguay to scale through.
In one of the three substitutions from the loss to Portugal, Luiz Suarez took the place of Edinson Cavani for the game against Ghana.
Diego Godin and Matis Vecino were replaced by Giorgian de Arrasceta and Facundo Pellistri, resulting in a back four. Godin was injured, therefore Suarez took over as captain of Uruguay.
Ghana made two alterations, both at full-back. Tariq Lamptey and Gideon Mensah were replaced by Alidu Seidu and Baba Rahman.
Great rivalries are supposed to become stronger with time, but Ghana vs. Uruguay is unique in that regard.
They have only ever faced off against one another, in the 2010 World Cup quarterfinal, but it was a singularly amazing match that sparked an immediate rivalry after Uruguay knocked out Ghana unceremoniously.
In the group game earlier today, Suarez headed the ball towards Nunez in the 13th minute, and Nunez sprinted past Seidu and toward the goal.
When Salisu crossed over, Nunez dropped the ball and was subsequently defended against by a regaining Seidu. He appeared to be through on goal briefly.
Afterward, Jordan Ayew cuts inside on the edge of the box and hits a low drive that Rochet superbly saves by diving low to his left. This comes just after Uruguay’s goalkeeper was forced to make his biggest save of the game.
Kudus fouled Rochet after lifting the rebound over Rochet’s diving body. However, the flag was raised for Andre Ayew’s offside.
It showed that Andre Ayew wasn’t interfering with the game, the referee focused on Rochet’s challenge of Kudus.
The keeper’s foul against Kudus resulted in a penalty kick in favour of Ghana, a moment that would have changed the game.
Andre Ayew’s penalty wasn’t the finest because the goalkeeper dove pretty near to his left to stop it.
After the miss, the stadium was filled with boos, and the tension was palpable. Ghana was about to regret passing up its opportunity.
The 26th minute saw De Arrascaeta give his squad the lead. After Ati Zigi could only parry a Suarez shot into his path, it was a header from close range.
A straightforward cross beat two defenders due to some shoddy Ghanaian defending during the buildup.
At that point, Uruguay looked like they were going through, but Ghana could have crushed that hope if they had scored.
However, De Arrascaeta scored the game’s second with a wonder-volley in the 32nd minute once more.
Uruguay did a fantastic job of setting this up and locating the extra player near the far post.
Right before Nunez reached the edge of the field, Pellistri cut into the infield and raised a pass to him.
He passed it to Suarez, who skillfully lobbed it over Seidu and in the direction of the unidentified De Arrascaeta.
After waiting for the ball to drop, he turned and fired a volley that Ati-Zigi couldn’t stop. Such a wonderful goal!
For Ghana, the FIFA World Cup got worse because they gave themselves a mountain to climb. At that time, getting even looked like a distant fantasy.
They had already stopped singing as their fans gasped in horror. Several people have their hands on their heads. Being eliminated by Uruguay once more from the World Cup was their worst nightmare.
De Arrascaeta, a midfielder for Flamengo, scored twice. Interestingly, both goals were assisted by Luis Suarez.
After Ghana’s Andre Ayew missed a penalty kick to finish the first half, Giorgian De Arrascaeta grabbed control.
He scored two goals, the second of which was a beautiful team goal championed by Luis Suarez, and then escaped punishment for stamping on Alidu Seidu.
Jordan and Andre Ayew were replaced by Kamaldeen Sulemana and Osman Bukari in Ghana’s double substitution.
Bukari outran Olivera and swung a deep cross that Pellistri headed away. Before halftime, Ghana entirely lost their way; they appeared to be more focused at the beginning of the second half.
In the 60th minute, when Amartey tackled Nunez, Uruguay nearly got a penalty, but the official deemed it was not sufficient for a spot kick.
After 90 minutes of intense action, the game ended 2-0 in favour of Uruguay. But the outcome of the game was of no good to both Ghana and Uruguay as they both ended their journey in the tournament.
