Bloemfontein — THE Black Stars of Ghana sent Africa exploding into delirium, by storming into the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup finals, with a performance rich in both quality and spirit that -- for once in this tournament -- proved just too much for the hardworking Americans at the Royal Bafokeng Palace in Rustenberg on Saturday night.

The youngest team at this World Cup finals, with a number of players who were starring at the Fifa Under-20 World Cup a few months ago, and the only African nation to make it into the second round, went a step closer to making history by beating the United States 2-1 after extra-time.

Giant forward Asamoah Gyan, who almost quit international football just two years ago after having come under a barrage of criticism from the Ghanaian media following a poor goal return at the 2008 Nations Cup finals, fired home the decisive winner to send the Black Stars into the last eight.

It was Gyan's third goal in this tournament, and his first in open play, and if he waited 362 minutes for it, it was worth every second of that long wait.

He showed great physical strength, when a number of legs had lost their power, to hold off the United States defender and delayed his shot -- as he struggled for balance -- right up to the very end of a spirited run before volleying an unstoppable left footed drive that flew past goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Ghana had done it.

Now the Black Stars, who announced their arrival as a competitive team by going all the way to the final of the 2010 Nations Cup only to lose to a late goal from Egypt, are just 90 minutes away -- and a win against Uruguay at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Friday -- to become the first African side to reach the World Cup semi-finals.

Ghana's success story has been an incredible one given that it is one that was built in an environment of adversity.Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac was supposed to have been fired, a long time ago, after pressure was exterted at the Ghanaian Football Federation with the local media questioning the coach's credentials and, in particular, his preference for emerging talent at the expense of the big names like Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah.

But the Ghanaian football authorities resisted the temptation to fire the coach and stuck with their man.

Incredibly the young players that Rajevac invested his trust in, notably Andre "Dede" Ayew, whose father Abedi Pele is widely acknowledged as the best Ghanaian player of all time, have risen to the task and this Black Stars team has done well without the influence of Appiah, Muntari and Michael Essien.

Ayew, the 20-year-old rising star of Ghanaian football, will miss the quarter-final after picking his second yellow card in the win over the United States but he was a pillar of strength in that game and was duly named the man-of-the-match.

Rajevac has also wooed a number of players, who were born in Europe, but have Ghanaian ancestry and one of them, Kevin-Prince Boateng, who played for English side Portsmouth last season, was born in Germany, and scored his first goal for the Black Stars by firing the opener against the Americans.

Rajevac also wanted Inter Milan wildboy Mario Ballotelli to join the Black Stars and even travelled to Italy to try and woo him into the fold.

Now, the Serbian coach and his Black Stars are enjoying their place in the sun.

"The whole world is watching these games. This is the World Cup we are talking about. Everybody loves good football and I think because of that Ghana has the support of the whole world and not only the African continent," he said after his team's hard-fought win over the United States.

"The players showed they are a team who concentrate on what happens on the pitch. There are no other pressures. Now, we are going to get ready for the match against Uruguay. There is a lot at stake.

"Ghana are now among the eight best teams in the world. This is fantastic. When we reached the final of the African Cup the boys learned how to compete. That is the most important thing and I now hope Ghana will go further." Rajevac will miss Ayew and defender Jonathan Mensah, who also picked a second yellow card, for the tie against Uruguay while Boateng, who pulled out of the game against the United States with an injury, is a big doubt.

"It's going to be a huge problem to get him ready for the next game but we will do our utmost to get him (Boateng) ready. This is the major problem we're facing against Uruguay, the cards and the injuries."

Ayew has been one of the best African players at this World Cup.

The captain of the Ghanaian Under-20 team that won the Fifa Under-20 World Cup, Ayew is on the books of French champions Olympic Marseille and, although he has spent the past few years loaned to other clubs as part of his development programme, there is no questioning that he is now ripe for the big occasion.

Talented, hardworking and disciplined, and also blessed with good looks, Ayew has become the poster boy of Ghanaian and African football and was an influential figure against the United States in Ghanaian football's finest hour.

Remarkably while his father Pele is widely believed to have been a better player, who guided the Black Stars to the African Cup of Nations title and was voted the best player on the continent three times, the man who helped Marseille win the European Cup failed to take Ghana to the World Cup.

For all their success stories on the continent, the Black Stars only made their maiden appearance at the World Cup in Germany four years ago.

But they have since grown from strength to strength since then.

"We had to fight to the last second and we gave our all," said Ayew. "We fought for the continent and for Ghana. We hope the whole African nation is proud.

"Everything is possible. We are very tired but we have five days rest and will focus for the next game against Uruguay. They have great strikers but if God is behind us anything is possible.

"We were disappointed there was no African team with us. We need to make the whole continent proud and we feel we have the whole continent behind us and that gives us energy."

Gyan, who fired home the winning goal, dedicated the victory to the people of Africa.

"We have done this before, we did it in 2006, but now we have advanced one step higher. I'm very, very happy. I'm the happiest man in the world. We have made everybody proud, not Ghana alone, but the whole of Africa," he told a pitch-side post-match television interview.

The poor performance of the African teams at this World Cup, being held in their backyard for the first time in the tournament's 8l0-year history, has been one of the biggest talking points.

Five of the six African nations crashed out at the very first hurdle.

No wonder why even the politicians have now joined in celebrating Ghana's success story.The ruling African National Congress of South Africa paid tribute to the Black Stars, shortly after their win against the United States, for helping repair the battered image of African football at this World Cup.

The ANC said they were confident that the Black Stars would be in the final.

"The ANC would like to thank the Ghana National Soccer Team (the Black Stars) for salvaging the image of the continent in this tournament," the party said.

"We are very confident that having gone this far, you are indeed heading for the 2010 Fifa World Cup finals on our soil. We are very proud of you, as South Africa and as part of the continent of Africa, you are our pride."

South Africans have taken the Black Stars into their hearts and there were wild celebrations across the country after Ghana's win over the United States.

"What the Ghanaians have shown is that we can play good football in Africa and I'm happy about that because a lot of people doubt us," said taxi driver Sifiso Dlodlo.

"I felt that Bafana Bafana played well in their two games against Mexico and France and lost because of one poor performance against Uruguay while the Nigerians were very unlucky because Yakubu should have scored that goal against the Koreans and everything would have changed.

"Algeria also battled hard but Ghana have really shown that we can play good football and that is why I am supporting them."

Only Cameroon, in Italy in 1990, when they were inspired by Roger Milla, and wildboys Senegal in Korea/Japan in 2002, have managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Fifa World Cup while representing Africa.

Now Ghana have joined that group and have a great chance of going one step better.

Even the local media appears to have taken Ghana into their wings and the Black Stars dominated the front pages of most of the national Sunday newspapers yesterday. The Sunday Independent put Ghana's achievement into context.

"Ghana shatter American dream," screamed the newspaper. Even with the burden of carrying an entire continent, Ghana could not fail here last night. Throughout Africa, from Phokeng to Accra, celebrations reverberated from the final whistle and long into the evening."