Muntari Gives Ghana Perfect Start

ImagePortsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari struck in the last minute to lift hosts Ghana to a 2-1 win against Guinea in the opening game of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday. Udinese forward Asamoah Gyan put Ghana in front from the penalty spot early in the second half only for Guinea's Oumar Kalabane to equalise. Then, just as it looked as though the hosts would have to settle for a share of the points, up popped Muntari with a long-range, left footed, angled shot to send the capacity crowd at the 44,000 Ohene Djan Stadium wild. The sides were all square after the first half, but it was a mystery how Ghana hadn't scored. Claude Le Roy's men hit the post three times, had a goal disallowed and an adventurous overhead scissor-kick edged wide. Nottingham Forest's Junior Agogo then had his head in his hands after his angled header ricocheted off the inside of the far post and away to safety. Minutes later, Gyan, allowed to play despite being sent off in Ghana's last competitive match against Brazil at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, came up with his overhead kick which inched the wrong side of the far post. Another shot hit the woodwork before Ghana had the ball in the back of Camara's net but Gyan's effort was disallowed after Seychelles' referee Eddy Maillet caught the forward pushing the Guinea defender. It was Muntari's turn to test the solidity of the Guinea goal frame in the 40th minute when the Pompey man shot from the left, but again Guinea's luck held. Ghana finally got the goal they deserved eight minutes after the break when Kalabane brought down the charging Agogo with Maillet immediately pointing to the spot. Up stepped Gyan to convert with a curling kick into the top-left corner to send a deafening roar into the sky above the packed stadium where Ghana president John Kufuor was watching. However, in the 65th minute the crowd's celebrations were cut short when Guinea drew level. Kalabane made up for his earlier indiscretion when heading straight at Richard Kingston in the Ghana goal, the Birmingham City stopper fumbling the ball over the line. That left a nerve jangling final quarter of an hour for the hosts, who had identified this as a must-win match in their bid for a record-equalling fifth title. Le Roy brought on Andre Ayew as a late substitute and the move almost proved inspirational as, with his first kick, the Marseille midfielder forced Camara into a brilliant reflex save from close range. In the end, however, it was Muntari who saved the day, his 89th-minute shot flying past the diving Camara to give Le Roy and the rest of the crowd the perfect result.