Draman
put the four-time African
champions ahead in the 22nd minute,
breaking in alone on goalkeeper
Kasey Keller after colliding with
Claudio Reyna, who crumpled to the
ground in pain.
The
United States, which has never won a
World Cup game in which it trailed,
tied it when Clint Dempsey scored in
the 43rd minute with a smashing
10-yard shot off a perfect feed from
DaMarcus Beasley. But Ghana captain
Stephen Appiah converted a penalty
kick in the second minute of
first-half injury time after
American defender Oguchi Onyewu was
called for a foul in the penalty
area.
Eddie
Johnson entered in the 61st minute
as the United States pressed, and
Brian McBride nearly tied it again
in the 66th, but his diving header
inside the 6-yard box clanked off
the near post. A minute later,
Onyewu sent a header off Landon
Donovan's corner kick just over the
crossbar.
In
order to advance, the Americans
needed a victory and some help. They
got the needed assistance when Italy
defeated the Czech Republic 2-0 in a
game played simultaneous in Hamburg.
But the United States (0-2-1) didn't
come through and finished the
tournament with one point -- its
first in a World Cup played in
Europe, but not enough to escape the
basement in Group E.
Italy
(2-0-1) won the group with seven
points and Ghana (2-1), making its
first World Cup appearance, advanced
with six points. Ghana will face
Brazil in the next round but will
have to do it without their key
midfielder Michael Essein who plays
for the English premier league
champions Chelsea. Essein received
his second yellow card after a
tackle on U.S. captain Claudio
Reyna.
