Uruguay break African hearts

JOHANNESBURG (AP):Uruguay reached the World Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1970, beating Ghana 4-2 on penalties yesterday after the last African team in the tournament missed a spot kick in the final minute of extra time.

The Uruguayans advanced to face the Netherlands in the semi-finals after Sebastian Abreu casually chipped the last penalty straight down the middle to secure the win, after a 1-1 draw following 120 minutes of play.

Asamoah Gyan had a chance to secure Africa's first-ever World Cup semi-final spot for Ghana, but he hit the crossbar with a penalty in the last second of extra time after Luis Suarez was sent off for handling the ball on the line.

Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera then made two important saves in the shoot-out.

"To be among the four best (teams) in the world, there are no words for that," said Uruguay forward Diego Forlan, who scored the equaliser with a free kick in the 55th minute. "We felt we were going to faint with each penalty."

wasted efforts

Gyan, who had converted two penalties in earlier matches, bit his jersey and walked away with his back to the goal.

In regulation, Sulley Muntari gave Ghana the lead with a 35-metre left-foot strike seconds before half-time, but Forlan equalised with a curling, 20-metre free kick from the left 10 minutes after the break.

Ghana picked up the tempo in the dying stages of extra time and had other chances to win.

Kevin-Prince Boateng missed with a header in the 118th in the midst of three defenders. He sent in a cross from the left in the next minute which Muslera had to save at the near post.

Suarez was given a direct red card in the last minute for batting away Dominic Adiyiah's header with his arms after he'd already blocked Stephen Appiah's shot on the line.

After Gyan missed the ensuing penalty, Muslrea kissed his glove and touched it to the bar, and Suarez ran into the tunnel pumping his arms and celebrating the reprieve.

Support for Ghana has continued to grow this week as the only one of six African teams in the tournament to progress past the group stage.

84,017-strong crowd

Red, yellow and green flags with the black star at its centre were all around the stadium as people united to support the last team from the continent still in the first World Cup on African soil.

The partisan 84,017-strong crowd booed loudly when Forlan was successful with the first penalty of the shoot-out, and cheered wildly when Gyan angled his first shot into the top right corner to make it 1-1.