Johannesburg
“A game that got increasingly exciting, before an incredible finale. Penalties and Suarezgate aside, a ‘draw’ was a fair result. Both sides fielded their expected line-ups – Uruguay had named their team 48 hours before kick-off, whilst Ghana’s team featured the predicted two changes because of suspensions. The opening to the game was played primarily in Ghana’s half, with Uruguay dominating possession.” (Zonal Marking)

World Cup 2010: Uruguay 1-1 Ghana (Uruguay Win 4-2 On Penalties)
“If this isn’t the signature match of this World Cup, an absolute classic awaits. All the “total football” focus had been on Holland v Brazil but in the end only Brazil played like they did in 1974; while this… this match was total… everything. The streets of Ghana’s capital Accra are not as packed as Ned Boulting and ITV would have been hoping when they flew 3,000 miles to get there. Most of the locals are filmed showing two fingers to Boulting and his cameras and we are assured that this is a prediction of the scoreline, rather than an invitation to the patronising outsiders to foxtrot oscar.” (twohundredpercent)

Black Star Tragedy
“Football, we learned last night during the Ghana-Uruguay game, is the most effective tool for mass torture every devised by the human race. A vast majority of the over eighty thousands fans in the stadium, and millions of viewers throughout the world, were left speechless and unwound by what we saw unfold. For me, it was a little bit like reliving the final of the World Cup in 2006, with an early euphoria followed by an equalizer, then a game dragging on and on into penalties, with Gyan’s missed shot at the last minute playing the role of Zidane’s head-butt as the dramatic and decisive instant of the night. The sorrow, the indignity, the sense of unfairness of it all was too much to even contemplate.” (Soccer Politics)

Unloved Uruguay
“The Italian JobI will admit under the cover of darkness, with a long head start from those who might disagree, that I supported Uruguay against Ghana. Beirut had been gutted by the Brazilian loss in the afternoon (and here there are the Brazilians and there are the Germans, all else being commentary), so all that was left behind was a sense of solidarity for the little guy, for Africa, for the Third World, for the poor…” (TNR)

Ghana’s Elimination by la Mano del Diablo
“If la Mano de Dios works in the service of an attack on goal, helping the ball over the keeper, across the line, or to the foot of a well-placed teammate, la Mano del Diablo does its opposite – a hand raised on the line to stop a ball speeding toward the back of the net. The Hand of God works in one direction, the Hand of the Devil in its opposite.” (From A Left Wing)

Uruguay earns first WCup semifinal spot in 40 years after ousting Ghana
“Nothing, it seemed, would go in for Ghana. Not the shot kicked away at the goal line. Not the block ruled a handball an instant later as extra time ticked to a close. Not the subsequent penalty kick that sure-footed Asamoah Gyan sent bouncing straight up off the crossbar.” (ESPN)

Uruguay 1-1 (4-2 on penalty kicks) Ghana – Video Highlights, Recap, Match Stats – World Cup – 2 July 2010
“A spot in the semifinal round was at stake as Uruguay faced Ghana in the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Ghana was looking to be the first African side to reach the semifinals while Uruguay was looking to reach the semifinals for the first time since 1970.” (The 90th Minute)