A stunning long-range effort from Sulley Ali Muntari gave hosts Ghana a welcome win in the opening match against an impressive Guinea side.
The Portsmouth midfielder fired a left-footed shot into the top corner from thirty yards out in the last minute to give the hosts a win they barely looked like getting in an open match against a dangerous Guinea side.
Ghana had dominated the first half playing entertaining, free-flowing football, despite the ridiculously long grass at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, hitting the post three times before the break. Headers from Junior Agogo and Michael Essien rattled the frame of Kemoko Camara's goal before a fierce Muntary volley did the same.
Ghana finally broke through in the 55th minute as Asamoah Gyan converted a penalty after Agogo had been fouled by Oumar Kalabane just inside the Guinea box.
But the defender made up for it ten minutes later heading a corner in off the underside of Richard Kingson's bar.
From then on, Guinea looked the more likely winners, dominating posession in the last twenty five minutes, although Ghanaian substitute André Ayew - son of Marseille legend Abédi 'Pelé' Ayew - should have scored within moments of coming on only to be denied by the brave Camara.
In the last minute, the nervous Accra crowd got what they came to see as Essien fed Muntari who unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner of Camara's goal, a strike which earned him an embrace from French coach Claude le Roy after the final whistle.
The result was tough on Guinea whose playmaker Pascal Feindouno, who plays in France with St-Étienne, looked like the most dangerous player on the pitch. A well-hit first half free-kick might have troubled Kingson had Ghana's wall not done its job and his corner was perfectly placed for Kalabane to equalize.
The match had been preceded by a colourful opening ceremony during which the Ghanaian players players were mobbed by photographers, but the most eye-catching aspect of the afternoon was the terrible state of the Accra pitch. The grass was left ridiculously long, causing the players to tire quickly during the match and making dribbling and passing to feet ludicrously hard.
These two sides now face outsiders Namibia and an awkward Moroccan side, but Ghana will already feel they have one foot in the Quarter Finals after winning arguably their toughest fixture in Group A. The win was all the more impressive given the absence of captain and talisman Stephen Appiah, the Fenerbahçe midfielder, who is out of the tournament with injury but has travelled to his homeland to support his nation by request of coach Claude le Roy.
Result
GHANA 2 (A. Gyan pen 55', Muntari 90'), GUINEA 1 (Kalabane 65')
