Uruguay defeats cursed Ghana in penalties

It was just not to be Ghana's day.  They had a semifinal berth in their hands only to see it slip agonizingly away.  It was a tremendously entertaining match with both sides bossing parts of the game.   In first half injury time Ghana would strike first blood as Sulley Muntari launched a shot from long range.   Uruguay keeper Muslera was leaning the wrong way and could not get across as the shot went in.

The second half saw Uruguay searching for the tying goal as both teams got several quality attacks.  It was a wonder this game was not 5-5 with so mayn near misses.  In the 55th the South Americans drew level.  Diego Forlan ripped a freekick that swerved and ducked just under the crossbar evening the game.

The match headed to overtime where Ghana got stronger as the time went.  It was mostly one way traffic as Uruguay held on.  In the 120th minute Ghana has a freekick which would be their last chance to win the match before penalties.  The kick caught goalkeeper Muslera out of position. A shot by Ghana was blocked away on the goal line by Luis Suarez.  The ball bounded straight to Dominic Adiyiah who headed on goal.  Suarez was there again, but his only chance was to keep it out with his arm. That drew an immediate red card for the striker, who will miss the semifinal, and sent Gyan to the penalty spot.

As Gyan calmly placed the ball in front of him in the final seconds of extra time, all he needed to do was send it past Muslera and that would have sent the Black Stars into the semifinals.  Instead, to the horror of the crowd, Gyan rifled it off the crossbar and over.  The game would be decided in penalties.

The fans, except for the small pockets of blue-clad Uruguay supporters in the crowd of 84,017, booed Forlan before he calmly sent the first kick of the shootout past Richard Kingson.  And who would step up first for Ghana but Gyan, and he also struck the ball perfectly. Had he done so minutes earlier, Ghana and all of Africa would be celebrating an historic achievement.

Instead, the shootout moved to 3-2 for Uruguay and Muslera guessed correctly, diving left for an easy save on John Mensah. After Maximiliano Pereira's kick skied over the net for Uruguay, the vuvuzelas again were at their loudest.  But Muslera also stopped Dominic Adiyiah, and Sebastian Abreu won it with a soft but accurate placement as Kingson dived right.

"It's hard luck. You know, we had opportunity to win this game," Gyan said, "but unfortunately, that is football for you."