[AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS] Undermanned Ghana knocked off host Angola, 1-0, Sunday before a capacity crowd of 50,000 in Luanda in the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ghana entered the tournament without stars Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari and John Paintsil and lost Chelsea's Michael Essien after only one game, but the young Black Stars held off Angola on Asamoah Gyan's goal.

"We made an assessment of the Angolan team," Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac said. "We wanted to get an early goal and fortunately we got one. We could have scored more on the counterattack."

Angola's Palancas Negras piled on the pressure in the second half but were denied a last-minute equalizer when Isaac Vorsah cleared Kali's shot off the line.