Agogo Sends Ghana Into Semi-Finals

Agogo´s winner came just over 20 minutes after the home team had been reduced to 10 men with the sending off of their captain John Mensah.

Striker Junior Agogo sent 10-man Ghana into the African Nations Cup semi-finals when his late goal gave the hosts a 2-1 victory over Nigeria on Sunday.

An exhausted Agogo battled in the second half with tiredness but was on hand to tap in virtually on the goalline after Sulley Muntari had squeezed a square pass through the Nigeria defence from the left with just eight minutes remaining.

Yakubu Aiyegbeni had given Nigeria the lead in the Accra quarter-final with a 35th-minute penalty only for Michael Essien to equalise with a fine header on the stroke of halftime.

Tournament hosts Ghana will meet either Tunisia or Cameroon in Thursday's semi-final in Accra.

Agogo's winner came just over 20 minutes after the home team had been reduced to 10 men with the sending off of their captain John Mensah.

The central defender was red carded after a professional foul on Peter Odemwingie on the edge of Ghana's penalty area.

"I'm not sure he deserved it, it was speedy red card," claimed Ghana coach Claude Le Roy. Mensah will miss the semi-final.

A lethargic-looking Nigeria failed to make use of their advantage and created just one chance in the second half.

YAKUBU PENALTY

Nigeria took the lead 10 minutes from halftime when Eric Addo brought down Yakubu with a rugby-style tackle. The striker converted from the spot for only the third goal in their four matches by a disappointing Nigeria.

Essien put Ghana level when he powered home a header from Quincy Owusu Abeyie's free kick, his effort coming off the inside of the near post to trickle over the line.

"It's a fantastic team effort, they are really 11 heroes," said Le Roy of his team.

"We took a risk not to change our formation and bring on a defender after Mensah had been sent off but we wanted to keep attacking. We wanted to win it," the Frenchman added.

Nigeria coach Berti Vogts, who has clashed with Nigerian reporters seeking his resignation at the tournament, said Ghana had shown more experience at crucial times in the match.

"We made one or two mistakes and that is not allowed in international football. I'm very disappointed," he said.

Striker Yakubu added: "In football, you must take your chances. We missed too many, it's just disappointing to go out of the tournament."

It was the first time in five Nations Cup tournaments that Nigeria have failed to reach the last four.