Forlan & Co win 4-2 to knock out Ghana after dramatic penalty shootout in quarter-final

Uruguay defeat Ghana 4-2 on penalties to enter semi-final

Forlan & Co win 4-2 to knock out Ghana after dramatic penalty shootout in quarter-final

Hero Gyan turns villain, misses last-minute penalty

The World Cup finally came alive yesterday. After Brazil and Holland dished out a classic, Ghana and Uruguay produced an epic fight in a memorable quarter-final match at the Soccer City stadium.

Uruguay striker Diego Forlan controls the ball during the World Cup quarter-final match against Ghana at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg yesterday. PIC/AFP

In the end, it turned out to be a heart breaking night for Africa's Black Stars. They played their hearts out and dominated their seasoned South American rivals, only to be pipped 4-2 (1-1 after extra time) in the penalty shoot-out.

The African supporters were inconsolable as their team should have wrapped the game in extra-time. Ghana's star player Asamoah Gyan proved to be the villain as he missed a penalty in the last-minute of extra-time.u00a0 The penalty was awarded when Suarez blocked the ball with his hand on the goalline.

The teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time.

Ghana scored first through midfielder Sulley Muntari with a 30-yard drive in first-half stoppage time, before Diego Forlan equalised with a long-range free-kick in the 55th minute.

Uruguay will play the Netherlands in the semi-finals in Cape Town on Tuesday.

Key moments
>>u00a045+2 minutes: Sulley Muntari gives Ghana the goal they completely deserve withu00a0 an incredible strike from close to 40 yards out which bends into the goal and past Muslera who had fatally gone asleep for a split second.

>> 55th minute: Diego Forlan hits a stunning free kick which swerves in the air and leaves Kingson in a daze. He gasps in disbelief as the ball fizzes past him into the net.

>> 63rd minute: Forlan crosses with his left foot over Kingson and finds Suarez in acres of space. The Ajax striker meets the ball on the volley but can't wrap his right foot around it and misses the target.

>> 120+1 minutes: After an incredible goalmouth scramble which saw two goalline clearances from the South Americans to deny Ghana, the referee rightly deems the second to have come about as the result of a handball from Suarez whose acrobatic save from Aadiyah's header would have made any goalkeeper proud. Gyan steps up to try and score his third penalty of the tournament and send his side into the last four howeveru00a0 he cannons his shot againstu00a0 the crossbar and misses his penalty.

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