Suarez is a trivial cheat, not a hero: Rajevac

Sofia: Ghana's Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac is still fuming after Uruguayan striker Luiz Suarez stopped a goal bound shot with his hand on the line in the last minute of extra time in their World Cup quarterfinal.

"Some say that Suarez is a hero and now he's walking proudly," Rajevac told Bulgarian sports daily Meridian Match on Saturday, a week after the match at Soccer City.

"Come to your senses, people. He's not a hero, he's a trivial cheat. What hand of God? It was the hand of the devil," he said.

Suarez's "Hand of God" denied Ghana the prize of becoming the first African team to reach the last four of a World Cup and sparked a worldwide debate.

Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty to leave the match deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time and Uruguay won the shootout 4-2. Uruguay were then beaten 3-2 by Netherlands in the semi.

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Suarez was hailed a hero in South America and a cheat in Europe and Africa. Ghana had been the remaining African survivors in the tournament after six teams started.

"FIFA should change the rule following this fraud," added Rajevac. "Referees should allow a goal and not award a penalty when someone stops the ball with a hand on the line like this.

"I think we could've gone all the way to the final and spring a big surprise -- an African world champion.

"But everything has crumbled after Gyan's miss and in fact, we've lost a match that we should've won and it's really painful."

Rajevac said he would like continue his work with the African team but he has yet to talk to the Ghanaian federation about a contract extension.