Arsenal have been handed a significant boost in their race for the Premier League title after Thomas Partey 's Ghana side were eliminated from the World Cup on Friday after a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay in their final match of group H.
The game already had plenty of needle going into it after Luis Suarez's controversial comments relating to his handball that prevented the Black Stars from progressing to the semi finals in 2010, but the drama was taken up a notch early on.
That night in South Africa, Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty awarded after Suarez's dramatic save and it seemed that Andre Ayew would have the perfect chance for revenge when he stepped up to take a spot kick awarded after Mohamed Kudus had been fouled in the box.
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The former Swansea and West Ham forward missed though, bringing back horrible memories for the watching Ghanaian fans. Those feelings were to get even worse not much later as Giorgian de Arrascaeta poked home from close range after Lawrence Ati-Zigi fumbled Suarez's low shot.
The pair then combined again on the half hour mark, de Arrascaeta volleying Suarez's flicked assist in to make it two. In truth, Ghana never really recovered after the missed penalty, and although a draw would have been enough to take them through, they never looked like scoring the two goals necessary on the night.
There was at least some consolation in the fact that their nemeses from 2010 failed to progress beyond the group stage either after South Korea's shock win over Portugal in the other Group H finale, saw Uruguay miss out. This prompted scenes of tears from Suarez at full time that will no doubt have amused the Ghanaian supporters after his actions 12 years prior.
It doesn't, however, change the fact that they are out of the World Cup though, which means that Partey will be back with Arsenal relatively soon. It is likely that he will be given some time off now, but with the rest of Mikel Arteta 's squad not at the World Cup travelling out to Dubai on Sunday, it is possible that he could join them there for some warm weather training.
One of the reasons Dubai was chosen as a location for this preseason trip was its proximity to Qatar for players leaving the tournament earlier than expected, and Partey could benefit from this. While over in Abu Dhabi Arsenal will play friendlies against Lyon and AC Milan, although it's not clear if Partey will be involved.
However, having a well rested Partey could be crucial for Arsenal as they launch an unlikely charge for the Premier League title. The Gunners currently have a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League over Manchester City, with the 29-year-old being one of their most important players at the base of the midfield.
