South American Futbol - Libertadores, Sudamericana, World Cup 2010

Abreu sends Uruguay into the semis -Photo: FIFA

Two-time world champions Uruguay set up a semi-final showdown with the Netherlands after beating Ghana 4-2 on penalty kicks in one of the most dramatic clashes of recent World Cup history. The Charruas resolved the match during a penalty shootout, after Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan blasted a penalty against the crossbar in what was the final kick of extra-time.

Sulley Muntari put Ghana ahead just seconds before half-time with a 35-meter left-foot drive that beat Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. But Diego Forlan equalized for Uruguay with a curling 20-metre free-kick ten minutes after the interval.

The match was played at a frantic pace, with both teams creating clear goal-scoring opportunities. The intensity lasted the duration of the 120 minutes, but neither team could finish each other off.

Uruguay and Ghana — two of the most exciting teams of the tournament — battled in the midfield, and gave away no chances, setting up a thrilling climax as the game went into extra-time.

In the final minute of extra-time Luis Suarez was given a direct red card for punching out a goal-bound effort from Dominic Adiyiah from the goal-line, after he had initially blocked a Stephen Appiah shot from entering the goal.

Ghana were awarded a penalty kick , but Gyan — scorer of spot kicks against Serbia and Australia — fired his effort onto the crossbar to the devastation of the Ghana camp and the majority of the 84,000 fans at Soccer City stadium.

Uruguay went on to win the penalty shoot-out 4-2, with Sebastian Abreu booking his team’s ticket into the semi-finals, by beating Ghana goalkeeper Richard Kingson with a cheeky chip into the centre of the goal. Muslera saved two penalties for Uruguay, while Maximiliano Pereira was the only Uruguayan to miss.

After a forty-year wait, Uruguay will once again have an opportunity to decide the champions of the World Cup, provided that they beat the Netherlands in Cape Town on Tuesday. Uruguay — winners of the 1930 and 1950 World Cups — will start the game as the underdogs, but are more than capable of upsetting the Dutch.

On Friday, Brazil were eliminated from the competition after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Netherlands. Brazil went into the half-time break one goal up courtesy of a strike from Robinho, but an own goal from Felipe Melo — who was sent off for stamping on an opponent in the second half — and a strike from Wesley Sneijder turned the game into the direction of the Dutch.

Despite Brazil’s best intentions to force extra-time, the resilient Dutch held on, and could have won the match by a greater difference with Brazil leaving huge gaps in defense as they desperately pushed all of their men to the attack.