It may be almost eight years since the Uruguay forward's infamous intervention in a memorable quarter-final clash in Johannesburg, but Rajevac has concedes that he still reflects on what might have been.

"Believe me, this end of the game and this elimination, I cannot get them out of my head," he told Goal. "These are the kind of matches we only see very rarely, the kind that are remembered in history."

Ghana appeared primed to become the first African team to reach the final four of the World Cup when Dominic Adiyiah headed the ball towards Fernando Muslera's goal in the 120th minute of extra time with the scores tied at 2-2.

However, his effort was blocked by Suarez's outstretched hands, and while the current Barcelona superstar was shown a red card for his intervention, Asamoah Gyan duly sent the resulting penalty against the crossbar.

Uruguay would ultimately progress following the penalty shootout, with John Mensah and Adiyiah missing the decisive spotkicks for the Black Stars.

"Who knows, maybe if we'd scored this penalty, we'd have gone all the way," the Serbian added ruefully. "I'm sure that I'll never forget this moment.

"Fortune deserted us this day and it shone upon Luis Suarez," he concluded. "It even boosted his career."

To date, no African side has gone beyond the final eight of the World Cup, although Rajevac's side came the closest, they remain one of three sides - along with Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002 - who were denied at the quarter-final stage.

The shootout defeat by Uruguay was also the highlight of the international careers for many of Rajevac's talented collective, with the Black Stars falling at the group stage in 2014 despite a series of spirited performances.

They missed out on the 2018 tournament after being pipped by Egypt in CAF World Cup qualifying Group E, with the Pharaohs set to be joined by Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal as the continent's contingent in Russia.