Ghana fell 2-0 to Uruguay at Al Janoub stadium on Friday as both teams crashed out of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 finals.
Giorgio de Arrascaeta scored both goals within eight minutes of the first half to dent Ghana’s hopes of making it to the second round of the tournament.
Arrascaeta scored the first goal from a close-range header, while the second came through a sublime volley that zoomed beneath goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi.
In Group H's other game, South Korea's 2-1 victory over group winners Portugal was enough to take them through in second place.
Luiz Suarez played a crucial role in both goals as his shot fall into De Arrascaeta's path for the opener, before the former Liverpool striker followed it up with an assist for the second.
Ghana missed a penalty when captain Andre Ayew saw his spot-kick saved by Uruguay goalkeeper Sergio Rochet to keep the gamed at 0-0. The penalty was awarded by the referee after reviewing the goalkeeper's foul on Mohammed Kudus on the pitch side monitor in the 21st minute mark.
Coach Otto Addo made two changes after the break as he brought on Kamal Deen Sulemana and Osman Bukari for Jordan Ayew and Andre Ayew.
The Black Stars pressed their opponents as they started creating chances in the second half with the best falling to Kudus but the Uruguayan goalkeeper was up to the task as he stretched to push the ball out for a corner kick.
Sulemana continued to cause troubles in Uruguayan defence but his efforts could not count for anything as they were equal to the task to stop Ghana from scoring.
Daniel Kofi Kyereh later came on Salis Abdul Samed while Antoine Semenyo replaced Inaki Williams in the 72nd minute.
Ghana kept pilling the pressure on Uruguay in search of a goal but the back line were resolute as they swept aside all the chances that came Ghana’s way.
Mohammed Kudus came off for Abdul Fatawu Issahaku but the Sporting Lisbon youngster barely made an impact as the referee blew his whistle to bring proceedings to an end.
The defeat takes Ghana out of the tournament for the second time following a horrendous campaign in Brazil eight years ago where the Black Stars lost all three group matches to exit in the first round.
Ghana will now turn attention to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in March next year.
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