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Ghana knocks out U.S. from World Cup in extra time

RUSTENBURG, South Africa — The United States was eliminated from the World Cup by Ghana for the second straight time as Asamoah Gyan scored 3 minutes into overtime, leading the Black Stars to a 2-1 second-round victory Saturday night

Kevin Prince Boateng put Ghana ahead when he stripped the ball from Ricardo Clark in the 5th minute and beat goalkeeper Tim Howard from 16 yards.

Once again, the U.S. came back, and Landon Donovan tied the score with a penalty kick in the 62nd minute after Jonathan Mensah pulled down Clint Dempsey streaking in. But no matter how much the Americans pressured after Gyan scored, they couldn’t tie it again.

In the first-ever extra time World Cup game for the U.S., Gyan got the winning goal when he took a long ball from Andre Ayew over the defense and beat U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra, his teammate on the French club Rennes. Gyan let the ball bounce, took a touch with his chest, and with Jay DeMerit vainly trying to catch up, scored over goalkeeper Tim Howard with a left-footed shot from 16 yards.

There was no late magic this time to equal Donovan’s injury-time goal against Algeria that moved the Americans into the second round. The closest the U.S. came to tying it again was in the 98th minute, when Maurice Edu’s header off Donovan’s corner kick went wide.

With Howard pushed up, DeMerit’s desperation long shot in the final minutes went over the crossbar. Then Dempsey sent a header wide.

At the final whistle, Howard consoled Bocanegra and Maurice Edu collapsed to the ground. Donovan exchanged jerseys with a Ghana player and walked off the field, put on a coat, sat on the bunch and hung his head.

Meanwhile, the only African team left in the tournament celebrated moving into the quarterfinals against Uruguay on Friday in Johannesburg.

 

United States 0 1 0 — 1

Ghana 1 0 1 — 2

First half_1, Ghana, Kevin-Prince Boateng 1, 5th minute.

Second half_2, United States, Landon Donovan 3, 62nd, penalty kick.

Extra time_3, Ghana, Asamoah Gyan 3, 93rd.

Shots_United States 20, Ghana 16.

Shots On Goal_United States 6, Ghana 6.

Yellow Cards_United States, Ricardo Clark, 7th; Steven Cherundolo, 17th; Carlos Bocanegra, 68th. Ghana, Jonathan Mensah, 61st; Andre Ayew, 90th, injury time.

Offsides_United States 1, Ghana 4.

Fouls Committed_United States 11, Ghana 19.

Fouls Against_United States 18, Ghana 10.

Corner Kicks_United States 5, Ghana 4.

Referee_Viktor Kassai, Hungary. Linesmen_Gabor Eros, Hungary; Tibor Vamos, Hungary.

 

Lineups

United States: Tim Howard; Steven Cherundolo, Jay DeMerit, Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein; Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark (Maurice Edu, 31st), Clint Dempsey; Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore (Herculez Gomez, 91st), Robbie Findley (Benny Feilhaber, 46th).

Ghana: Richard Kingson; Samuel Inkoom (Sulley Ali Muntari, 113th), John Paintsil, John Mensah, Jonathan Mensah, Hans Sarpei (Lee Addy, 73rd); Kwadwo Asamoah, Anthony Annan, Andre Ayew; Kevin-Prince Boateng (Stephen Appiah, 78th), Asamoah Gyan.

 

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