Uruguay beat Ghana on penalties

Posted: Jul 2 2010

Uruguay beat Ghana 4-2 on penalties to reach the World Cup semifinals after the sides were tied 1-1 after extra-time.

Asamoah Gyan missed a penalty with the last kick off the game in extra-time that would have put Ghana through instead the match ended up going to a penalty shootout which Uruguay won.

The Ghana goal was scored by Sulley Muntari in the first half while Diego Forlan got the equalizer in the second half.

For the first 20 minutes of the first half it was the South Americans who were the better side.

From the 25th minute onwards Ghana looked the better side and had some good scoring opportunities.

After a flurry of attempts on Muslera's goal late in the first half a swerving, long-range shot from Sulley Muntari caught the Uruguay goalie off guard giving Ghana a 1-0 lead just before half-time.

In the 55th minute Uruguay got the equalizer after Fucile won the South Americans a free-kick on the edge of Ghana's box. Diego Forlan opted to strike straight at goal and the speed of the shot saw it move in the air, fooling Kingson and finally ending up in the top corner. Uruguay were back in the game.

Shots at both ends meant the game was exciting throughout the second half but with the scores tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes the game went to extra-time.

It was becoming increasingly obvious that the players were getting tired during the second half of extra-time with both sides making silly mistakes through fatigue.

Late in the game Ghana had chances on the goalline that saw the ball cleared but Suarez's second defence of the goalline was with his hands and he was red carded and sent off with Ghana awarded a penalty at the end of extra-time.

It should have been curtains for Uruguay at that point, but Asamoah Gyan, who had already scored twice from the spot for Ghana in the World Cup, hit the bar with his penalty kick. The ball flicked over the bar and the ref blew his whistle.

A Penalty shootout followed which Uruguay won 4-2 to progress to the semi-final.

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sean : 2010-07-02 23:46

Again Africa leads the way to its demise.

mthwakazi : 2010-07-02 23:49

at the end of the day i cant celebrate failure.they tried but there are no different from my bafana,all ado about nothing.CRY MY BELOVED VUVUZELA

leponapona: 2010-07-02 23:54

Suarez son of a .......

afro king : 2010-07-02 23:57

suarez will go into history books as a great hero 4 uruguay de won de game 4 his side, he saved a clear goal bt de red card meant nothing bcos de game was over anyway. By handling de ball he gave his team a slightest chance of survival & gyam bcos of his jealousy gave uruguay a chance 2 fight on & dey gladly accepted. Fact is gyan is jealous he plays 4 himself not his team he wanted 2 take all de penalties & 2 b a cheap hero & bt he failed & it backfired, sad 4 africa, sad 4 ghana & wat de hell was deya captain doing taking a penalty like dat who de hell does he think he is zinedine zidane?

Mvuleni 22 : 2010-07-03 00:01

African players always expect us 2celebrate failure when they think they r better than the basics of soccer,How come all the Uruguay players stood far 4rm d penalty&the big stars of Africa think they kno.Hail Ghana for what? They have not acheived anythng better-The world remembers only the winners.

afro king : 2010-07-03 00:03

Hail king Suarez, Africa r failures finish and klaar, Gyan is selfish dats why he missed de important penalty & scored a useless one.

ceehle27 : 2010-07-03 07:04

i'm dissappointed with Gyan but people we must be fare, Ghana are the best in Africa. So just because our countries didn't progress. Now we want to compare them to the other loosers. We must give credit where it's due. I'm impressed with the way they change strategy during the game, from zonal to tight man marking. From long range passes to physical muscling off the ball and dribbling. The way they held the ball and didn't rush when they were at goal mouth and options for the man on the ball. I salute the couch. Mtwakazi you talk nonsense. How can you say they are the same as Bafana. You people are jealouse. Those boys were hungry for the ball, for a win, for thier country. We are the ones that jinxed them by calling them BaGhana BaGhana.

ALLY : 2010-07-03 07:10

No comment on GHANA bcoz they did all their best but it was n't their day, but 2 me crown iz goin 2 SUAREZ hey dat guy did a stupidity manner but fastly his silly became 2 a marvelous thing, hey big up on them!

Vuvugal : 2010-07-03 07:17

I think the black stars played well and with heart. Suarze is not a. Classy player & lacks sportmanship. First it was oscar his Oscar performance that got Khune a red card & now a hand ball to prevent a goal for Ghana .To me he is not a good player as stated but a cheat who win at all costs.Once again a win from urguay that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.Sies & shame on him.

Swona Champ!: 2010-07-03 08:38

they missed Eyewe

Jeff. : 2010-07-03 10:01

Sorry The A Stars.In Brazil u will b better.Dont blame those who mssd the spot's.

JMasterJ: 2010-07-03 10:16

I was impressed at how Ghana played.... but at the end of the day the luck was not on their side.
The less said about Suarez, the better. This was Africa's chance to do well at a SWC but they did not use it. The pressure was too much on Ghana to make history by at least going through to the semi's. SAD day for Africa and a painfull day for Ghana football. The Ghana layers should be very proud of themselves but again the world only remebers the winners, i gues it's back to square one. there is no guarantee that they will do well in Brazil in 2014.

stan'Lee: 2010-07-03 10:18

The quater final match loss to Uruguay was very pain....no doubt!

The Black stars played so well and deserve to win to move to African’s first semi-final but it was not be.

A. Gyan would have settled down before taking that decisive spot kick that was missed.
I felt so sorry for him after the miss because he had played extremely so well.
He reminded me of John Terry's miss on that fateful night in Moscow btw Man Utd and Chelsea in that heated UEFA champions league final.

However, Congratulation Ghana for making African Proud with great soccer artistry and a reputable representation of the black continent.
I believe the entire African states and the black race will be very proud of you.

I implore the Ghanaian Football House to keep and maintain this team for the future they are world-beaters anytime.

We look forward to another great performance from the Black stars in the next 2 nations cup competitions as well as come Brazil 2014.

VIVA Black stars...VIVA Africa!!!

God no dey sleep!!!

KidKudu7: 2010-07-03 12:17

It was Asamoah Gyan who took Ghana to the quarter-finals, and its him again who took them out of the quarter finals.