Published Sun, Jun 13 10 10:22 PM
Pretoria, Jun 13 (PTI) Asamoah Gyan''s cool conversion of a late penalty scripted Ghana''s 1-0 win over 10-man Serbia in an otherwise mundane Group D opener of the World Cup here today. Ghana dominated proceedings with unrelenting attacks but it took a moment of madness on part of Serbian midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic, who needlessly rose to handle a ball inside his own penalty area, to help them becomes the first Asian team to win a match in this year''s World Cup. Gyan''s smashed home from the spot-kick and then rushed to the sideline where he broke into impromptu dance before being mobbed by euphoric teammates. Some 10 minutes before Kuzmanovic''s baffling indiscretion, Serbia had lost Aleksander Lukovic to a second yellow card. Gyan''s nearly scored his brace in the dying seconds but his shot from inside the box beat the goalkeeper only to hit the upright. Prior to that, Serbia nearly had opened their account in the 80th minute when Marko Pantelic fluffed his shot from close quarter and Milos Krasic'' shot was tipped over by birthday boy Richard Kingson. Ghana began the match with gusto, mounting early attacks well before their Serbian opponents could settle down. The Serbian half of the Loftus Versfeld suddenly became the hub of frenetic Ghanaian activity with an Anthony Annan rocking the defence but missing the mark as early as in the second minute. Two minutes later, star Serbian and Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic brought down the rampaging Prince Tagoe and Asamoah Gyan''s resultant free-kick sailed over the crossbar. Captain John Mensah was in the thick of things in the 19th minute but his head was also wide of the mark. Gyan''s had the easiest opportunity of this half but he could not connect the menacing cross curled in by Kevin-Prince Boateng. With today''s win, Ghana will now hope to make it to the second round to equal their 2006 achievement. Gyan''s take on Australia in their next Group D match at Rustenberg on June 19, a day after Serbia meet Germany in Port Elizabeth.
Source: Web Search
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