Pantsil suffers African heartbreak

John Pantsil's Ghana have seen their dream of winning the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations end at the semi-final stage.

The host nation were beaten 1-0 by Cameroon with Alain Nkong scoring the only goal of the game in the 71st minute. The goal came largely against the run of play with Ghana having had several opportunities themselves to open the scoring including a header by West Ham United right-back Pantsil, who was playing at centre-back to cover for the suspended captain John Mensah. 

Cameroon finished with ten men after Andre Bikey was sent off in the dying seconds but there was not enough time for the Black Stars to turn things around. Pantsil, playing in his third finals, will now have to content himself with Saturday's third-placed play-off against Ivory Coast. Henri Camara had already headed back to England, having been eliminated with Senegal in the group stage. Cameroon will meet Egypt, 4-1 winners against the Ivorians, in Sunday's final.