Full time:Portugal2-1Ghana 90+4 The referee blows the final whistle! As both Portugal and Ghana were eliminated. Germany and USA make it through. 90+4 Gyan's free kick misses the target... 90+3 Moutinho concedes a free kick following a cynical foul against Gyan, who almost lost his temper against the Portuguese midfielder. 90+1Ronaldo spurns two gilt-edged chances in quick succession! The first flows narrowly wide of the bar before seeing the keeper thwart him in the second. 90' The referee announces four minutes of injury time. 89' Portugal boss Bento makes his last substitution, taking off keeper Beto and intoducing Eduardo. It seems that the Beto has sustained an injury. 86' Mubarak Wakasu comes in for Ayew. 84' Portugal took heart from their gift lead, and indeed came close on a couple of occasions during those past few minutes. 80' In what could be a horrendous blunder from keeper Dauda, he fails to gather the ball in the air to parry it straight to the unmarked Ronaldo who easily stabs home from inside the box!! An unacceptable mistake!! 80' GOOOAAAAALLLL!!! Portugal are now two!! 79' Jordan Ayew escapes a red card after elbowing William, luckily, he receives a booking only. 77' The last substitution for Ghana..Acqwah replaces Rabiu. 75'Gyan heads wide by miles... 72' Waris taken off as Jordan Ayew is wheeled on. 71' Ronaldo launches a foray on the break down the left before his cross went out for throw in! The cross was in fact dangerous and just needed someone to meet it inside the area. 70' The ineffectual Eder makes way for Vierinha. 69' Valera blasts a long-range show high. 67' Free kick for Ghana from a glorious postition on the right of the area but Asamoah plays it terribly!! 64' Foul for keeper Dauda following a collision with Ronaldo, who was contending for the ball with the goalie. 61' The first substitution for Portugal, Varela replaces Pereira. 60' WHAT A CHANCE!!! Waris misses a sitter from point-blank range when he headed wide Gyan's terrific cross from the right handside of the area! That sure was a goal!! 57' Juventus left-back Asamoah swerves in a pin-point cross at the back post for Gyan, whose header bounces off the ground before flying into the net!! Should Ghana score another goal, they could well go through as Germany are currently taking the lead against USA. ## 57' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLL!!! Ghana equalize!!!! 56' Waris cautioned following a rash challenge against Pepe! It's usually the combative defender who gets booked in these situations! 54' Portugal have been dictating play for those quite few minutes but didn't pose real threat on goal. 51' Gyan cuts inside the right before unleashing a powerful strike that sent the keeper diving at full stretch, but the Ghanaians' effort already missed the target. 48' In a well-crafted counter attack, Ronaldo prefers to pass to Nani inside the area, but the Manchester United winger sees his strike deflected wide off a Ghana defender. The second half begins... 45+1 The referee blows the whistle,ending the first half..let's see whether Ghana would be able to stage a comeback after the break, but they need a win for either Germany or USA in the other group game - which is still tied at 0-0. 45' Boye could have cost his side another own-goal with a miscued clearance that could have well found its way to the net, but luckily it went wide. The center-half should be more concentrating!! 43' Gyan pleads for a penalty after falling inside the area, TV replays show the striker wasn't really brought down by Alves. 40' Atsu cuts inside his marker, who lets him pass lest should he concede a penalty, before playing a curling strike which went wide. 37' Afful is the first player to get into the referee's book tonight following a lunge on Ronaldo. 35' Gyan heads wide Ayew's cross from the left, the Ghana striker was expected to be more accurate than that! 32' Great save from keeper Dauda who thwarts Ronaldo's shot! the Ghana keeper looks vigilant today. 31' An own-goal from Boye, who sliced Veloso's cross while attempting to clear the ball to put the Portuguese in front! ## 31' GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLL!!! Portugal take the lead!! 28' Ronaldo in a one-on-two situation against Ghana's two center backs but opts to lay the ball to the advancing Velose on the left, but the full back's cross is collected by the keeper. 27' Afful concedes a foul against Ronaldo following an error from Rabiu who allowed the Portuguese star to eventually claim the ball. 24' Asamoah drops his free kick into the area but the rising Gyan sees his header saved by keeper Beto. 23' William fouls Badu on the right flank, free kick for Ghana. 21' Just a minute later, Gyan sees another shot from inside the area denied by the keeper! Now the game is getting end-to-end. 20' WHAT A CHANCE! An unmarked Ronaldo freely heads goalwards, but keeper Dauda saves the Portuguese's effort. 18' B.Alves who is marking Gyan makes a foul against the forward who dropped deep towards play. 17' Ghana has been in control during those past few minutes, mainly carrying out their attacks down the active right side. 14' Atsu goes forward down the right before passing the ball for the overlapping Afful, who makes a sublime dummy before seeing his cross gathered by the keeper. 12' Ronaldo plays the free kick at the near post but keeper Dauda blocks his effort. 11' Boye makes a fierce tackle against Moutinho, as Ronaldo steps up for the free kick. 9' Moutinho conceds a foul following a tackle against Rabiu. 6' Cristiano Ronaldo surges down the right and plays a cross-cum-shot that bounces off the crossbar!! Brilliant from the World's Player Of the Year! 3' Ghana, who are playing with a high backline, are attacking the Portuguese from early on. The match gets underway. 19:57 And now it's Ghana's anthem. 19:55 Portugal's national anthem is currently being played. 18:52 They are now marching towards the pitch. 18:50 Both sides are now lining up outside their dressing rooms as they prepare to take to the field. 18:45 Both teams are currently warming up ahead of their decisive clash. 18:35 But the Portuguese only have themselves to blame for leaving the team in such a dire situation. Poor, even before Pepe's silly red card for head-butting in an opening 4-0 loss to Germany, they also failed to play like a side ranked No. 4 by FIFA against the United States. Only Silvestre Varela's header with 30 seconds left of five minutes of stoppage time kept them in World Cup contention. 18:25 Ghana, which has a goal difference of -1, has more hope. A victory in the Brazilian capital, combined with a win for Germany, could see it qualify at the expense of the U.S. 18:20 Meanwhile Portugal made several changes to their starting XI, most notably, striker Eder coming into the side for the injured Almeida. 18:15 Ghana boss James Appiah made two changes only to his starting line up, fielding Abdul-Majeed Waris and Emmanuel Agmeyang-Badu instead of banned duo Boateng and Muntari. Line ups: Portugal: Beto, Bruno Alves, Pepe, Miguel Veloso, William Carvalho, Ronaldo (c), Moutinho, Eder, Nani, Amorim, Pereira. Ghana: Dauda, Gyan (c), Atsu, Agyemang Badu, A. Ayew, Rabiu, Waris, Mensah, Asamoah, Boye, Afful. 18:00 Despite needing a win to go through, both Ghana and Portugal would return home should Germany and USA, who are level on four points, draw in the other group match. 17:55 Ghana players were believed to have been unhappy this week after being denied bonus payments by the football federation. 17:45 The Ghana Football Association released two separate statements early Thursday, one saying that Muntari had been suspended for an ''unprovoked physical attack on an Executive Committee member of the GFA'' on Tuesday. The other statement said Boateng has also been suspended for aiming ''vulgar verbal insults ... at coach Kwesi Appiah'' during a training session this week. 17:30 Ghana stars Kevin Prince-Boateng and Sulley Muntari will not be featuring today after being ruled out of the decisive match for disciplinary reasons. 16:00 BothGhana and Portugal need to win in Thursday's World Cup clash to stand a chance of qualifying for the knockout phase Venue: Estadio Nacional de Brasilia (Brasília, Distrito Federal) Officials: Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain) Assistants: Yaser Tulefat (Bahrain), Ebrahim Saleh (Bahrain) Fourth official: W. Roldan (Colombia) For the match preview, click here (For more sports newsandupdates,followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebook atAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/104816.aspx
