Low blow: Luis Suarez (top) is hailed by team-mates following Uruguay's shoot-out win over Ghana
Bad boys: Suarez's handball (above) upset fans who recalled past World Cup crimes.Ghana failed to enter top 8 .
Anything worth having is a thing worth cheating for, W C Fields once mischievously suggested, and the vast majority of professional footballers would have reacted much as Luis Suarez did when a header was about to eliminate his team from this World Cup.
That's my boy: Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez is backing Suarez
Bad boys: Suarez's handball (above) upset fans who recalled past World Cup crimes such as Brazilian Rivaldo's play-acting (below left), Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal (below right) and German Harald Schumacher's foul on Patrick Battiston (bottom)
But it was the manner in which Suarez and his Uruguay team-mates responded to Ghana's failure to punish the crime that was so offensive; the sight of him punching the air when Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty and then Uruguay's players lifting Suarez on their shoulders when they won the subsequent penalty shoot-out.
While headline writers branded it the 'hand of the devil', Suarez had the temerity to declare it 'the hand of God'. That he had superseded what he clearly considered a similar act of heroism by Diego Maradona against England in 1986.
'The Hand of God now belongs to me,' Suarez declared. 'Mine is the real Hand Of God. I made the best save of the tournament. Sometimes in training I play as a goalkeeper so it was worth it. There was no alternative but for me to do that and when they missed the penalty I thought: ''it is a miracle and we are alive in the tournament".'
Suarez sees nothing remotely wrong in his actions, nor, it seems, does anyone else among Uruguay's 3.5million population. At home he is being heralded a national hero and last night his coach, Oscar Tabarez, turned on this particular member of the 'British Press' for asking what he declared a 'shameful' question; for daring to ask if he was embarrassed by his side's failure to show any humility towards Africa's last hope during this first World Cup on African soil.
I'd like you to ask Suarez that,' said a seething Tabarez. 'I'm embarrassed by what has been asked by the British Press. That is shameful. They have been speculating by a football action foreseen in the laws of the game.
'It happened in the Australia game. In 1990, Uruguay versus Spain, when a footballer was on the goal-line and blocked the ball with both hands. It was an instinctive act. Suarez couldn't foresee what happened afterwards.
'Don't talk to me about a lack of modesty. The Uruguayan people bring out our personal strength when we have to. We are very proud, and we're upset with this topic.
'We're proud of our performances and what we've contributed to the development of football at this World Cup. Uruguay went through almost three matches without a yellow card at all, so please don't tell me we're cheats.'
Nobody said they were. Well not during last night's press conference anyway. But Tabarez had missed the point, preferring to shift the blame on the media. Before turning on the nasty Brits he accused journalists from his own country of spying on training sessions and 'playing as war correspondents'.
Tabarez would no doubt agree that in preventing Dominic Adiyiah's header from crossing the line, Suarez had not displayed the cunning of a Maradona or a Thierry Henry; or the deviousness of Slaven Bilic in getting Laurent Blanc suspended for the final in 1998.
The incident might have sparked a debate about whether penalty goals should be introduced but, had Gyan scored, the red card Suarez received and the subsequent match ban would have been considered appropriate.
When Henry used his hand to deny the Republic of Ireland a place at this tournament, FIFA launched an inquiry. When Suarez parried that header, FIFA served him with a one-match ban. Fair enough.
No, the reason he has become a hate-figure for an entire continent, the reason much of the world will be united behind the Dutch when they appear at the Green Point Stadium this evening, is because of the absence of any remorse.
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