Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan scored his second goal of the tournament from the penalty spot and was named man of the match against Australia, but left with bittersweet feelings on a night which promised more.

Gyan, who scored the winner against Serbia in a 1-0 victory, coolly converted a 25th-minute penalty equalizer in the 1-1 draw after Harry Kewell was sent off for a hand ball on the goal line.

Both teams continued to attack in a thrilling match, but Ghana, with 22 shots to eight, should have made the extra man pay.

"We should have won this game," Gyan said. "Once Australia were down a man we should have scored.

"We are looking forward to the last game with Germany and we are hoping Ghana qualify."

Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was in good form and denied Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari with excellent saves. Ghana, however, missed the target completely with 16 of their 22 attempts.

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac acknowledged their proglifacy might come back to haunt them after the final group game against Germany. Ghana heads the group and a draw against Germany will be enough for it to advance, but defeat by Germany would put the Africans at risk of missing out.

Ghana made a poor start as Brett Holman scored on 11 minutes against a defence missing regular starters John Mensah and Isaac Vorsah through injury.

"Instead of two defenders, we had to use two young players and we got off to a bad start, conceding a goal," said Rajevac. "After that, we started to fight. All we have to regret is that we had so many chances but didn't score.

"Both goals are from penalties, so we have a problem. But we made a lot of opportunities to score. We'll try to redeem ourselves against Germany."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP