Ghana try to overturn striker Gyan's ban

WUERZBURG, Germany, June 19 (Reuters) Ghana are trying to overturn the yellow card which would rule striker Asamoah Gyan out of the decisive World Cup game against the United States, a team spokesman said today.

The West African nation need to beat the United States on Thursday to guarantee a place in the last 16.

Gyan was shown the yellow card in their 2-0 Group E win over the Czech Republic on Saturday for taking a penalty before the referee had blown his whistle. It adds to the yellow card he received against Italy in their opening 2-0 defeat and will rule him out of the next match.

''I heard the whistle from the crowd and that is why I took the penalty,'' Gyan told a press conference today, adding that he wanted to apologise to all Ghanaians for his mistake.

Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech had tried to prevent the yellow card for Gyan during the game, telling the referee he had also heard a whistle.

The team's official spokesman Randy Abbey said Ghana were in discussions with FIFA over the suspension. Ghana's international coordinator Anthony Baffoe said they expected to hear the result either later today or tomorrow.

A FIFA spokesman said earlier on Monday that FIFA was not aware of any formal appeal against the yellow card having been filed.

Gyan scored from open play in the second minute of the game against the Czechs and scored the disallowed penalty before hitting the post with his retaken effort.

Sulley Muntari, who scored the team's second goal, will also miss the game against the U.S. for his second yellow card of the tournament.

OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK Coach Ratomir Dujkovic said it would be hard to replace either player but said he had a good squad to choose from.

''We will miss two very important players for us,'' he said.

''But I'm an optimist and I believe that everyone in Ghana will be happy after this match.

''It's very difficult to find another Sulley Muntari ... but we will try. He is very disciplined, he scores, he's tackling, he's defending, he's attacking, he's creating, so he's exceptional.'' Midfielder Michael Essien, man of the match against the Czechs, said they expected another tough encounter against the U.S. but were confident they could qualify.

''I've seen the U.S. play and they play good football,'' he said.

''It's going to be tough. We will have to play like we did for our last two games and hopefully we can beat them.'' Ghana need to beat the U.S. to ensure a place in the second round and could top the group if Italy and the Czech Republic draw.

REUTERS AY PM2127