SUAREZ REFUSES TO SAY HE IS SORRY

Luis Suarez insisted he would not be apologising for his handball in Uruguay’s 2010 World Cup quarter-final against Ghana as the sides prepare to meet again today.

The clash in South Africa 12 years ago saw Suarez sent off in the final moments of extratime, with the score at 1-1, after keeping out a Dominic Adiyiah header on the line with his hands.

The resulting penalty was struck against the bar by Asamoah Gyan, and Uruguay then won the subsequent shoot-out.

Ahead of the rematch in the final round of Group H matches, Suarez was asked if he had ever thought about apologising to the Ghana team for the incident.

The 35-year-old forward said: “I don’t apologise about that because I did the handball, but the Ghana player missed the penalty, not me.

“Maybe I can say an apology if I did a tackle, injured a player, and took a red card. But in this situation, I took a red card, the ref said penalty, (and) it’s not my fault, because I didn’t miss the penalty.

“The player who missed the penalty, he said he would do the same in this situation.

“It’s not my responsibility to shoot the penalty.”

Ghana have the chance to advance and end Uruguay’s last-16 hopes. The African side are second in the group with three points, while Alonso’s team are bottom with one.

Already-qualified Portugal lead the pool with six, and South Korea are third with one.

Cristiano Ronaldo remains a fitness doubt after missing Wednesday’s training but boss Fernando Santos remains confident.

“He will be training and if he is well enough physically he will be playing,” he said of Ronaldo.

“Right now I don’t know if the chance is 50-50, that will depend on the training session.”