But anyone looking for a similar frisson in the otherwise rather pointless exercise of teams shaking hands before matches should keep their eye on Sunderland v Liverpool, when Asamoah Gyan and Luis Suárez make contact for the first time since the dramatic events of the World Cup quarter-final in Johannesburg last July. Both have promised to shake hands and put old history behind them, though Gyan sneakily let slip that Suárez is still a hated man in Ghana.
If you need a quick refresher, the quarter-final went to extra time and in the final minute of the added half-hour, Suarez, of Uruguay, standing on his own goalline, kept out a header from Ghana's Dominic Adiyiah with his hand. Suarez was dismissed, only for Gyan to strike the bar with the resultant penalty, the last kick of the game.
Rather a normal man in uruguay then a hated guy all over the world.
WOW! Really? This is worse than what Henry did? Or what Maradona did?
Okay. Granted what Luis did was terrible. But he was punished for it according to the rules of the game. He got sent off and Ghana got a penalty. Those are the terms. He probably wouldn't have taken the chance if the rules state that the goal should be awarded anyway. If the people of Ghana should hate anybody, it should be Gyan for missing that penalty.
Anyway, Luis is a hero in his home country. He sacrificed his reputation and his place in the semis for his team. He's going to be a legend for his country. He probably doesn't give a damn about his reputation in Africa, and he rightly shouldn't.
Any player would of done what suarez did!
I'm not sure what FIFA could do to change the rules here. Luis took a calculated risk and was fully punished. It just happened that his risk paid off.
I'd like to hear some suggestions for fixing the rule instead of people just complaining about the handball.
It was football genius to take that handball. The ball was going to go into the net, but stopping it and getting a penalty instead would allow a "second chance" to stop the ball.
No one should hate on Suarez. Handball in the box = penalty. That's the rules of the game, Suarez took advantage of it.
Africa should hate on Gyan for missing terribly.