Swaziland, then Sunderland for Ghana hero Asamoah Gyan

NEITHER South Africa nor Sunderland need much reminding about the merits of one Asamoah Gyan. He was the World Cup’s proudest player, the man who so nearly propelled his side to the semi-finals of the World Cup as Africa took its place on the global stage.

Now the 24-year-old striker who featured in most World Cup XI selections gets the chance to show off his wares to the English Premier League – after a quick diversion with Ghana to give Swaziland a Nations Cup footballing lesson.

Asamoah captured the hearts of disappointed South Africans everywhere – not to mention the odd Englishman – as he scored three goals to inspire his side beyond their five African rivals at the World Cup.

While South Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Algeria fell by the wayside, Asamoah helped the Black Stars – without injured Chelsea superstar Michael Essien – through their qualifying group and into the quarter-finals.

But with the whole of Africa backing Ghana, we hit that chilly July night against Uruguay in front of 80,000 at Soccer City. With a mouth-watering semi-final – Africa’s first crack at the last four – beckoning, Uruguay’s Luis “Hand of God” Suarez got an arm on what should have been a last-minute winner on the line.

Gyan, the continental colossus, stepped up... and saw his penalty rattle the bar. Half-an-hour later, he bravely stepped up again to score in the penalty shoot-out... but Uruguay squeaked past 4-2 on spot kicks. Agony.

A couple of months later, the pain is still apparent as Gyan mulls over his transfer deadline day £13.1m move from French club Rennes to Sunderland.

Gyan smiles ruefully: “It was a major, major disappointment. For me and for my nation. But that’s in the past. You have to be strong and move on.

“I have to concentrate on the positives, I had a good tournament, I’ve kept mentally strong and I’m looking forward to the future challenge with Sunderland.”

Gyan finds himself partnered with another people’s champion at the Stadium of Light – Darren Bent. The former Spurs striker didn’t even get a ticket to the World Cup, despite his goal glut for unfashionable Sunderland last season.

Gyan, whose move broke the £10m transfer record on Tyneside set by Bent, is 24 has experienced life in Italy with Udinese. He scored 11 goals in 39 games for them, 14 in 47 with Rennes in France. His international record of 22 goals in 44 games will have the Swazis quaking in their boots this weekend in Lombamba.

Gyan flew out on Thursday to join the Black Stars, losing finalist in Angola, to lead the crusade for a place in the finals of the competition to be co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Their group also features Congo and Sudan.

Former Manchester United stalwart Steve Bruce, who has turned Sunderland into a force to be reckoned with – they shocked mega-bucks Manchester City last week – said: “Gyan works extremely hard for the team and will complement Darren up front. He is a traditional No 9 and we will benefit from that. Yes, we have managed to bring in another top-class striker.

“It is a great piece of business, amazing that the club record signing is done on the last day of the transfer window.”

Bruce can expect more than just football from his new signing whose brother, Baffour Gyan, currently plays in Ghana for Asante Kotoko.

Earlier this year, Gyan produced a popular single in his homeland called African Girls with a Ghanaian Hiplife singer called Castro The Destroyer. On the label of this No1 hit, Gyan calls himself Baby Jet. Hopefully he’ll rocket up the scoring charts too.

No quarter given as Uruguay and Holland advance to the semi-finals, leaving Ghana, Brazil and the Rat & Parrot devastated

World Cup fans are advised to spend some of their time in Africa glimpsing lion and buffalo. Alternatively, you could try the Rat and Parrot for the big game.
Yeah, yeah, it’s a pub. But not just any drinking hole, this one’s reserved for wild life in Grahamstown, about 100km inland from Port Elizabeth and tribes of celebrating Dutchmen in bright orange.
They call this the “City of Churches”. Last night it was a town of tears as Ghana, Africa’s last hope at the continent’s first World Cup, crashed out amid injustice and recrimination at Soccer City in Johannesburg.
Having witnessed the drama of Holland’s shock 2-1 quarter-final win over champions-elect Brazil first hand in Port Elizabeth, I expected a quiet night as I made my first return to Grimstown (the less austere nickname) since 1982.
This is the home of Rhodes University, where I graduated nearly 30 years ago with a scrap of paper which claimed I was a bachelor of journalism. I’ve been married to a keyboard ever since.
It’s also the home of South Africa’s burgeoning National Arts Festival; that dark drive from the delights of Dutch victory at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was supposed to be taking me away from the World Cup whirl we have been cocooned in for the past month.
But no, the art-farty thousands here have an astonishing appetite for drama, ballet and all that jazz. Yes, I’m talking Ghana v Uruguay.
Shakespeare – or was it Marlowe? – couldn’t have scripted this one. The Rat & Parrot couldn’t bear to watch it. We were united in grief as Asamoah Gyan’s last-minute penalty rocked the bar at Soccer City, not to mention the bar in the Rat.
As the only man in an England shirt at both quarter-final gatherings, my immediate verdict (being an articulate analyst of the game for 40 years) was: “Bollocks.” Those around me used the more descriptive terms like “kak”, which I shall leave the Dutch to translate.
If foreigners who decried this World Cup want evidence of how wrong they were, yesterday was a perfect day for it. Port Elizabeth, heaving with 35,000 painted ladies (and men) in gold and orange, was stunning. Soccer City, packed with 83,000 Ghanaian fans, was humming. The Rat & Parrot, filled with actors and artists, was brimming.
From my perch in the Parrot on a metal strut under a table in the left-hand bar, it was clear Ghana were the better side. Last time I was in Grahamstown in 1982, Apartheid was in full cry. Now, black, white and green were united by a passion for art, football and Klipdrif (apparently it’s a local brandy, I thought it was medicinal).
For 90 minutes the Rainbow Nation showed it’s true colours. Not just the long-departed gold of South Africa, but the deep black of Africa. Bafana Bafana had become Baghana Baghana. Even devoted rugby fans in the Rat appeared to accept their roles as continental cohorts.
When the Black Stars’ naughty boy Sulley Muntari put the “home” side ahead right on half-time, the place Rat nearly ruptured. Drinks and flags flew. But when the deadly Diego Forlan’s free-kick found a way past Wigan reject Richie Kingson for the equaliser, an eery silence fell.
And then that dramatic last minute. Desperate Uruguay cleared one of the line. Then another – but wait, surely… Luis Suarez had handled on the line. Off he went.
Up stepped Asamoah for the winning spot kick. Just 12 yards to propel the leather sphere. But as so often in the tournament, the lightweight Jabulani ball flew high… and hit the woodwork. Oh the pain.
Asamoah was inconsolable. When pictures of Suarez celebrating his miss were beamed around the world, football took another small step back into the dark ages when cheaters prospered. Still, he’ll miss the semi-final against Holland at Green Point on Tuesday.
We were in to the penalty shoot-out. And somehow everybody knew. Uruguay. My guess is Cape Town will turn orange in response.

Ghana 2 USA 1: Africa have their heroes, but the American dream is shattered

While 23 million Ghanaians go off into the night to celebrate, 305 million Americans are left with their heads in their hands. About 20,000 of them were among the 33,000 at the Bafokeng Sports Palace last night, stunned. The World Cup tends to do that to even the most powerful of nations.

A night of high drama ended Phokeng's involvement in this fascinating World Cup - and the USA's. Though it will be absolutely no consolation to the brave US and their huge army of travelling fans, it produced a result South Africa 2010 desperately needs.

With five African nations crashing out with two wins between them, Ghana carry the hopes of a continent as Africa's first World Cup hits the squeaky bottom phase.

The Americans came back from beyond once more, but they couldn't do it twice. A rousing crusade is over. The American dream of global dominance with the round ball remains incomplete. But they'll be back.

And they'll be ready to go that extra step. Legend has it that Landon Donovan, the son of a semi-professional ice-hockey player, demanded to play soccer when he was seven.

His mother Donna took him along and he scored six goals. So far, after 21 years and two World Cup finals, he has scored five including his penalty in Phokeng. And that's the most any CONCACAF player has ever managed. Quick, dogged and determined, Donovan epitomises the grit that drives this vastly-improved US side.

But he's not alone. Michael Bradley, son of coach Bob who got it so wrong with his starting line-up against Ghana last night, never stops running. Fulham's Clint Dempsey was hacked down countless times, but never lost his rag, never lost his hunger.

But even that wasn't enough. So what do we make of Ghana, the Black Stars who carry the last African flag into the quarter-finals? The name itself means "Warrior King", this was the home of the much-feared Ashanti tribe and the first African nation to declare itself free of British imperialism in 1960.

They've always been a bit special... and they proved it again without Michael Essien, their Chelsea talisman, who pulled out injured before the tournament.

Richie Kingson, regarded as the third best goalkeeper at Wigan last season, showed just why he's looking for a new club. He was immense when the Americans, having reshuffled their side, began putting the pressure on.

Early on, it was all Ghana. Bradley started with Ricardo Clark rather than Maurice Edu but it was Clark who was dispossessed after just five minutes. Portsmouth's Kevin-Prince Boateng, the man who famously crocked Germany captain Michael Ballack at the FA Cup final, did the robbing.

And blow me, he took the ball, whisked past Watford's Jay DeMerit and struck it low with his left foot past Everton'sTim Howard. Great goal and the start of serious Ghanaian dominance. After half-an-hour the Africans had 64 percent of the possession. And we were starting to understand why captain DeMerit has told Watford he's looking for a new challenge.

But while Sulley Muntari, Ghana's best player after Essien, languished on the Ghana bench, Bradley made his changes. Outnumbered in midfield, he pulled Clark off after just half-an-hour and put Edu on up front.

It worked a charm. The US came right back into it, chance after chance falling to Jozi Altidor, the one-goal Hull striker last season, and Edu.

They had to wait too long for the equaliser though. Just over an hour was gone when Dempsey scurried into the area and Jonathan Mensah pulled him down. I thought he may have got a touch on the ball, but in the book he went and Donovan stepped up to take the penalty.

The US pushed and pushed for the winner but with Kingson dominant, we were into extra-time. It looked for all the world as if the Americans would go on to win it... but somebody forgot to tell Asamoah Gyan.

Scorer of two goals out of three for Ghana so far, the 24-year-old from French club Rennes bundled past Carlos Bocanegra and smashed a glorious left foot shot past Howard from just inside the box.

The final minute saw the two goalkeepers go head to head, literally, as Howard went up for a corner only to be denied by the courageous Kingson. Does Arsene Wenger have his number?

Donovan lamented afterwards: "Soccer is such a cruel game. One minute you're on top of the world, the next you're at the bottom of the mountain. We were a little bit naive at times and you can't do that at this level."

With Argetina or Mexico next up in the quarter-finals, Gyan said simply: "I am the happiest man in the world."

To see the Gyan goal and hear US coach Bob Bradley's summing up, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1ubvWHu97U

Soweto, the ultimate World Cup destination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mUVdUk0GMQ. Includes fantastic dancing lady and the ultimate World Cup companion!

Neal Collins is in South Africa to marvel at the South Americans, pray for England... and promote his first novel A GAME APART, the real story behind this World Cup. For more information see www.nealcollins.co.uk.