Draman on target as Black Stars sparkle

COACH Ratomir Dujkovic celebrated a “historic moment” for Ghana as they booked their ticket to the World Cup knockout stages for the first time yesterday.

A 22nd-minute strike from Haminu Draman, as well as a controversial 45th-minute spot-kick from Stephen Appiah, saw the Black Stars march through to the last 16 after Clint Dempsey had equalised for the US.

“We made 20 million people in Ghana happy today,” Dujkovic said. “It was a very tough match, very nervous but we are satisfied that we have done it. The US were pressing a lot and we were thinking about the score in the other game.”

The coach also hailed goalscorer Draman as the “future of Ghana”.

“He is just 19 years. He is very fast but without experience. He´s a great player,” the coach added.

USA coach Bruce Arena bemoaned Markus Merk’s controversial decision to award Ghana a spot-kick in the second minute of injury time at the end of the first half.

“That’s a big call that was a big part of the game,” he said. “We were in control of the game and then we were put into a decision to chase the game. That is a tough one to deal with.”

GHANA: Kingston, Mensah, Pantsil, Shilla, Mohamed, Appiah, Essien, Dramani (Tachie-Mensah 80), Boateng (Otto Addo 45), Amoah (Eric Addo 59), Pimpong.

USA: Keller, Onyewu, Conrad, Cherundolo (Johnson 60), Bocanegra, Dempsey, Reyna (Olsen 40), Lewis (Convey 74), Beasley, Donovan, McBride.

Att: 41,000

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany).