Ghana strike late for precious win over Panama

TORONTO -- Caleb Yirenkyi tapped in a cross from Brandon Thomas-Asante in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, and Ghana beat Panama 1-0 on Wednesday night in the teams' World Cup opener. At the end of a game that saw few chances for either side, Thomas-Asante got loose on the left side and fired the ball across the goal mouth. Yirenkyi knocked it in, sending his teammates streaming onto the field.

Ghana played without midfielder Thomas Partey, who was denied entry into Canada while he awaits trial on rape charges in England. The late goal denied Panama its first World Cup point. The only shot on goal in the first half came two minutes in, when Panama forward Cecilio Waterman latched onto a low cross from Amir Murillo and clipped a ball from the center of the box toward the net.

Ati-Zigi dove to his right and palmed the ball away. The goalkeeper left the game at halftime after bearing the brunt of a couple of hard collisions. He was replaced by Benjamin Asare.

The result puts Ghana at the top of Group L with England, who beat Croatia 4-2 earlier in the day. After the first hour, when chances came at a premium at rainy BMO Field, the match opened up and both teams started smashing shots toward the net. In the 65th minute, Thomas-Asante broke through Panama's back line and played a ball along the 6-yard box toward Jordan Ayew, but Jiovany Ramos ran up from behind with a tackle to prevent the tap-in.