EPL ~ Sunderland 0-2 Liverpool ; Bruce rage at ref U-turn

zocoss SG

Hands up: Uruguay's Luis Suarez, left, stops the ball

Sunday, 20 March 2011

Sunderland v Liverpool 9:30 Mio 102 / 110

Asamoah Gyan will shake hands with the man who destroyed his World Cup dreams - even though he has claimed Luis Suarez is 'the most hated person' in Ghana.

The Sunderland striker has not seen Suarez since the Uruguayan deliberately handled Dominic Adiyiah's header in the last minute of extra-time to prevent Ghana securing a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

Liverpool's £22.8million signing, who was sent off, was seen celebrating wildly after Gyan fluffed the subsequent spot-kick, a miss that was exacerbated when Ghana lost the penalty shootout.

But the affable Gyan does not hold a grudge against Suarez, who will return to Liverpool's starting line-up after missing Thursday night's 0-0 Europa League draw with Braga, and will show that when the pair meet in the tunnel at the Stadium of Light before kick-off.

'I will shake his hand, no problem, said Gyan. 'We were not happy but it is one of those things and we will shake hands - hopefully when we have won.'

Gyan, however, is in a small minority. He might have been able to move on from the episode in Johannesburg but says his nation reviles Suarez for denying them the opportunity of a lifetime.

'Suarez is not a friend of mine but if he wants to speak to me, fine,' he said. 'I will also speak to him because he is a sportsman and so am I.

On a mission: Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan

'Despite what happened in the World Cup, life goes on. 'I will say he is not popular in Ghana though - I am sorry to say it but he is the most hated person in Ghana now.

'He is a hero in his country, even if he isn't in our country. 'I would have done the same thing that he did, honestly, if I was in the same position, because they needed to qualify. We also needed to qualify and sometimes you have to do what it takes. These things can happen. I understand why he did it. But will the fans understand what happened? Not really.'

charlize SG

Trying to stir things up before the game?

zocoss SG

Crouching tiger: Suarez, Liverpool's £22.8m signing, relaxes at the club's Melwood training complex

There was the handball on the line against Ghana during the 2010 World Cup that enraged an entire continent, not to mention the incident last November that prompted De Telegraaf to brand him 'the cannibal of Ajax'.

In fairness to the Dutch newspaper, Suarez did receive a seven-match ban for biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal. Suarez can't really explain it and when you watch it again on the internet it is bizarre.

Even Bakkal seems more bemused than anything else. 'It was a spur of the moment thing, and one of those things you regret afterwards,' says Suarez. 'I had never reacted that way before. It is not in my nature to react that way. I normally try to be tranquil on the pitch.'

Infamous: Uruguay's Luis Suarez, left, stops the ball with his hands during the World Cup quarter-final against Ghana

When Liverpool meet Sunderland at the Stadium of Light tomorrow, the incident during last summer's World Cup in South Africa will come back into focus.

Suarez might have prevented Dominic Adiyiah from scoring with the goal-line save that earned him a red card during Uruguay's quarter- final with Ghana - by then the only African team left in the competition - but it was Sunderland's Asamoah Gyan who missed the resulting penalty and Sunderland's John Mensah who then missed from 12 yards in the shoot-out that followed. Even Sulley Muntari, who opened the scoring, is now at Sunderland.

'I do regret what happened but if you asked 1,000 footballers I believe they would tell you they would have done exactly the same thing,' he says. 'We were fighting for a place in a World Cup semi-final and I had the chance to stop a goal. I didn't have time to think about it. I just did it.' But he then celebrated wildly when Gyan squandered the opportunity to secure Ghana's place in the last four.

'I've never seen the pictures but people have told me I did,' he says.

'I was caught up in the moment. As I said, it was a World Cup quarterfinal and I had never been in a situation like that before. I'm not even sure I realised I was celebrating.'

While he says he will shake Gyan's hand tomorrow he has no intention of mentioning the World Cup.

gunner77 SG

Ghana should hate Gyan for missing the spot kick.

zocoss SG

Decision time: Liverpool owner John Henry with team manager Kenny Dalglish (right)

Liverpool owner John W Henry will watch his side at Sunderland before confirming his long-term ideas.

Henry has torn up his original plans and met interim manager Kenny Dalglish on Friday to discuss how his relationship with director of football strategy, Damien Comolli, could work if the Scot were to be appointed full-time.

Henry's presence at the Stadium of Light will be welcomed by Liverpool fans who have not seen much of him since he bought the club from Tom Hicks and George Gillett in October and who have grown impatient over the delay in talking to Dalglish about becoming permanent manager.

Today's game will be the first time Henry has seen a Liverpool match outside the city. His only previous away game was at Everton, where his team lost 2-0 under previous boss Roy Hodgson.

Shortly after their arrival at Anfield, Henry and his company, the Fenway Sports Group, appointed Comolli to be responsible for transfers, with a coach beneath him being entrusted with first-team affairs.

But Dalglish's arrival in January has lifted the club and Henry realises he should be kept on, even though he will want input into player recruitment.

Bus&Soccer l0v3r (VO3x 1) SG

Suarez done it again !!!

zocoss SG

REF Kevin Friend did not find many mates after his penalty cock-up helped sink Cats

STEVE BRUCE blasted calamity ref Kevin Friend over the penalty that helped sink Sunderland.

Boss Brucie was stunned when Friend's mind was changed by assistant Billy Smallwood, who insisted John Mensah's first-half tackle on Jay Spearing was inside the box.

TV replays showed Friend's original decision was spot on and Bruce said: "There was a catalogue of mistakes, linesman make mistakes. Anything that went wrong did and the turning point was the first goal.

"I have not complaints about the result, maybe it didn't effect it. "We knew immediately it was outside the box. Within five seconds the fourth official saw it on the monitors.

"The ref gave it correctly. I told him 'You were correct, 10 yards away, you even stood where the free-kick should be, where the marks on the grass were.'

"But then he listened to the assistant. He has made a blatant error. The ref understood, to be fair to him. The linesman is the one who made the mistake. Bit late now though.

The decision eight minutes from time to give a straight red to Mensah, who was booked for the penalty incident, was equally baffling for the Sunderland boss.

He added: "If it has been a second yellow I would understand that.

"But I have asked the ref to see if it was denying a scoring chance. It was a free-kick and possibly a yellow, but not a straight red."

Kop boss Kenny Dalglish said: "There was some dispute about the penalty. If it was fortuitous then so be it.

"It was a great effort from our players. The partnership of Carroll and Suarez was very encouraging."

zocoss SG

Former Premier League and World Cup referee Graham Poll gives Sportsmail his verdict on the dubious penalty decision awarded to Liverpool at the Stadium of Light this weekend.

sg_forum SG

Not a penalty...performance wise LFC has 17 shot on goals vs Sunderland 1..

zocoss SG

Match Facts and Stats

zocoss SG

Not a penalty...performance wise LFC has 17 shot on goals vs Sunderland 1..

Type-po error?

Cos I spot there is an extra '1' before your 7...

sg_forum SG

Type-po error?

Cos I spot there is an extra '1' before your 7...

Please forgive me, i am only a human after all. :D :D <-- need to re-visit this whenever a referee make a bad decision...lol

zocoss SG

Please forgive me, i am only a human after all. :D :D <-- need to re-visit this whenever a referee make a bad decision...lol

... Nice one.