World Cup 2010: Ghana edge past Serbia thanks to Asamoah Gyan penalty

As John Paintsil raced around the perimeter of this famous rugby pitch brandishing a Ghanaian flag, it was clear this victory meant more than simply establishing an advantage over a well-fancied World Cup opponent in a tight group. The match-winner Asamoah Gyan dedicated the first victory by an African side in these World Cup finals to the entire continent.

Despite a commanding performance, this pacy and direct Ghana team needed Gyan's penalty six minutes from time to secure victory against a Serbia side reduced to 10 men. After the ball struck the hand of the substitute Zdravko Kuzmanovic from a long cross, Gyan confidently sent Vladimir Stojkovic the wrong way and gave Ghana the victory their performance deserved.

In added time, the Rennes striker could have doubled the lead but struck the inside of a post. Throughout, the Black Stars had made a better job of casting off the weight of expectation.

As if Fabio Capello did not have enough to occupy him, the thought of these potential second-round opponents running at his injury-hit defence would have further furrowed his crinkled brow.

But having pinned back a disappointing Serbia side who had 10 men for the last 15 minutes after their centre back Aleksandar Lukovic was sent off, it appeared their dominance would go unrewarded. The profligacy that blighted an otherwise impressive run to the last 16 during the last World Cup threatened to do the same.

There was pressure on both sides. For Ghana, the weight placed on all the continent's competing nations not only by their fans but organisers and politicians. For Serbia, the knowledge that they were playing their first World Cup as an independent state and the pressure of being so widely tipped as potential dark horses they had virtually ceased to be so.

It was Ghana who handled it etter, with Dede Ayew raiding down the left, the powerful Prince Tagoe doing the same on the right and Gyan lithe and dangerous up front. The quick feet, clever passing and direct approach the Serbia captain Dejan Stankovic had warned his team-mates about last week was much in evidence.

Kevin-Prince Boateng delivered an assured performance that ensured the hole left by the injured Michael Essien was barely noticed. Yet , for all their aesthetic appeal and several near misses, Ghana failed to muster a single shot to trouble Stojkovic in the first half, with Nemanja Vidic and Lukovic commanding at the back. The dynamic changed when Lukovic was sent off for an innocuous looking challenge after tangling with Gyan, having been booked earlier for a foul on Kwadwo Asamoah.

For much of the match it had looked as though as though Ghana's pressure would go unrewarded.

The Ghana captain John Mensah came closest in the first half, heading over from an Asamoah cross when he felt he should have done better. Two minutes later, Gyan narrowly failed to connect with a Boateng cross from the left. In the second half the pattern continued, with Ayew missing two good chances and Gyan heading wide with Stojkovic beaten.

Milovan Rajevac, Ghana's Serbian manager, went for his countrymen by taking the game to them. Stankovic failed to rally a Serbia side who looked stodgy in possession.

Their vaunted attacking trio of Milos Krasic, Milan Jovanovic and Marko Pantelic were disappointing, with their threat largely restricted to set-plays. The Anfield-bound Jovanovic was substituted as Raddy Antic reorganised following the sending off. Birmingham City's towering new signing Nikola Zigic had earlier suffered the same fate following a miss that had him shaking his head in disbelief. They were two of 10 starting players on the books of Premier League clubs, with Wigan providing both goalkeepers.

Pantelic looked petulant for much of the match while Krasic barely touched the ball in the first half. Yet for all Ghana's zest, particularly from the France-based pair Gyan and Ayew, they were unable to find the target.

Serbia's best chances came following Lukovic's sending off and before Gyan's winner, when Richard Kingson saved superbly from a well-placed Krasic and Branislav Ivanovic went close. Then came the dramatic denouement. Vidic blamed the flight of the much-maligned Jabulani ball for Kuzmanovic's handball but the confidently dispatched penalty was no more than Ghana deserved. The fans' favourite Stephen Appiah, who had entered the fray shortly before the sending off, joined in wild celebrations to the acclaim of the vast majority of a noisy crowd. The Serbian players sank to the turf knowing that an opening defeat in such a tough group leaves them a mountain to climb.