Asamoah Gyan scored an 85th-minute penalty Sunday to help Ghana to a 1-0 victory over Serbia and the first win by an African team at this World Cup. Gyan sent the spot kick high into the net for the only goal at Loftus Versfeld after Ghana had missed a series of headers. The Ghanaians earned the penalty when Zdravko Kuzmanovic handled a cross in the area. “This is all I have worked for,” Gyan said, “and to be man of the match, it is fantastic.” After the final whistle, the Ghanaians ran across the field in celebration, some carrying national flags to receive the applause of a crowd which had almost made them the home team. “Every African is behind us,” Gyan said. Stephen Appiah said Ghana received support from the South African fans. Ghana achieved the victory despite the absence of the nation's best player, Michael Essien, who was ruled out of the World Cup with a long term right knee problem. John Mensah and Gyan missed the target earlier, and Dede Ayew headed against the post. Serbia's only real threat near the end was a shot by Milos Krasic that was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Richard Kingson. The Serbs had Aleksandar Lukovic sent off in the 74th minute for a second yellow card. “For sure, this is a big blow for us. To start a World Cup with a defeat is a bad thing,” Serbia coach Radomir Antic said. Serbia defender Nemanja Vidic said the handball may have resulted from the wayward flight of the World Cup ball, which was strongly criticized by players ahead of the competition for changing direction. Ghana, the only African team to reach the last 16 at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, had the vast majority of the support among the South Africans in the stadium. The fast-moving Ghanaians created more chances and should have been ahead by halftime. Mensah headed a free kick wide of the far post and Gyan failed to reach a left wing cross by Kevin-Prince Boateng as the Serb defense failed to deal with well-directed balls into the middle. Defender Aleksander Korolov produced the first danger to the Ghanaians with a 30-meter free kick that sailed wide and Kingson fumbled another long range drive by Dejan Stankovic. But they made little use of the height of 2.03 meter striker Nikola Zigic, who went off in the middle of the second half after making little impact. Ghana created another header from a cross when Ayew got clear of the defenders in the 54th minute but headed wide of the far post with only the goalkeeper to beat. Then, a glancing header by Gyan flicked outside of the near post. In injury time, Gyan almost made it 2-0 but Gyan hit the post after a burst down the left.
