Ghana captain Andre Ayew has targeted a win against Uruguay when they face off at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar despite not thinking about avenging their painful defeat in 2010.
The Black Stars has been paired against Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea in Group H.
The biggest soccer mundial will be staged in Qatar between November and December with 32 countries set to battle it out for the ultimate.
The Black Stars will tackle Portugal in the opening game of the Group before facing Asian and South American giants South Korea and Uruguay respectively.
Ghana were denied a semifinal berth at the World Cup courtesy of a Luis Suarez handball incident in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The former Liverpool and Barcelona forward prevent a goal-bound header from Ghana's Dominic Adiyiah in the final minute of extra time at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.
Suarez essentially produced a save on the line worthy of a goalkeeper and he was shown a straight red card as a result.
Ghana were also awarded a penalty, but Asamoah Gyan’s attempt from 12 yards crashed into the crossbar, which resulted in Suarez going mental on the touchline and sent the game to a shootout.
Uruguay won the penalty shoot-out to progress to the semifinals with Luis Suarez celebrated for his demonic act.
Speaking in an interview with Al Jazeera, Ayew, who was part of the of the losing side in 2010, said he is not thinking about revenge when they meet the South Americans at the World Cup.
“As team leader, I don’t believe we should view this game as revenge. Instead, we must be smart enough to recognise that it is a match we need points from,” he said.
“We can’t ignore history, but what Luis Suarez [Uruguay footballer] did is something I could have done in the same situation [used his hand to stop a goal-bound shot in 2010]. It hurt us all. But that’s part of football and it happened years ago.
“We just want to win against Uruguay after everything that has been said in the media. As a player, if you go into a game with the intent of retaliation, you can make a lot of mistakes and be hyper. We just need to stay calm, follow the plan and try to win the game, or do whatever we can to advance to the next stage.”