Muntari Sheds Tears Of Joy

Ghana's Sulley Ali Muntari was overpowered by emotions moments after the end of their quarterfinal victory over Nigeria on Sunday. The creative left footer shed uncontrollable tears at the post match conference and needed coach Claude Le Roy by his side to get consoled. Clad in a warm-up jersey and a white towel, the Portsmouth player took the centre stage of attention with tears, tears of joy. Muntari said later "it was a very difficult game that we just had against Nigeria. "They are a good side and we needed every drop of strength to defeat them today." The player said the team had to accept added responsibility when their captain, John Mensah was sent off to ensure the victory to keep their fifth Nations Cup glory hunt alive. "When John was sent off, we came together and encouraged ourselves; reminding each other that we had a responsibility to respond well because the entire nation was depending on us. "When the Coach asked me to move to the middle after the red card, I told myself that now I have to be playing the role of three people and that I needed to throw everything into the game." Mensah was sent off while the game was still tied at 1-1, with 31 minutes remaining and Muntari was very instrumental in the winning goal scored by Manuel Junior Agogo. He paid tribute to the performance of the Super Eagles, who took a first half lead through Yakubu Ayegbeni from a spot kick. "It was such an incredible game they just gave us. Nigeria has a very good team and to win in this manner is very special”, Muntari noted.