Ghana seek further glory

Africa's hopes of glory at SA2010 now rest in the hands of Ghana - and the players are relishing the focus on them


The Black Stars advanced to their first quarter-final at a World Cup after a 2-1 extra-time victory over the United States at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium thanks to Asamoah Gyan's winner three minutes into the added period.

They will now face Uruguay in the last eight and with high hopes of pushing even further into the tournament.

"We had to fight to the last second and we gave our all. We fought for the continent and for Ghana. We hope the whole African nation is proud," said midfielder Andre Ayew, who will miss the Uruguay game after picking up his second yellow card.

"Everything is possible. We are very tired but we have five days rest and will focus for the next game against Uruguay. They have great strikers but if God is behind us anything is possible.

"We were disappointed there was no African team with us. We need to make the whole continent proud and we feel we have the whole continent behind us and that gives us energy."

Manager Milovan Rajevac echoed those sentiments, adding: "Ghana are now among the eight best teams in the world. This is fantastic. When we reached final of the African Cup the boys learned how to compete. That is the most important thing and I now hope Ghana will go further.

"The whole world is watching these games. Everybody loves good football. Ghana has the support of the whole world because it is the only African country still playing at the World Cup."