Ghana secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Serbia in their Group D opener in Pretoria on Sunday.

Asamoah Gyan's late penalty was enough to seal the victory after substitute Zdravko Kuzmanovic needlessly handled in his area.

He sent goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic the wrong way to spark wild celebrations as Serbia ended the game with 10 men.

At the start of the clash, Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic crudely gave a free-kick away, but Gyan fizzed the effort over as the Black Stars made a comfortable start to proceedings.

Nikola Zigic went into the referee's book for an obvious body-check then, soon after, Gyan narrowly failed to get his head on Kevin-Prince Boateng's telling left-wing centre.

Isaac Vorsah was next to see yellow after a mistimed tackle from behind on the towering Zigic and, on the half-hour mark, Aleksandar Kolarov went close to breaking the deadlock.

His fine free-kick from all of 25-yards flew just wide of Richard Kingson's upright as the game continued to flow from end to end.

Sought-after Serbia midfielder Milos Krasic failed to make an impact in the opening period as a resolute Ghana defence kept him and his teammates at bay as the interval loomed.

The Africans started the second half as they ended the first, keeping their foot on the accelerator, with Prince Tagoe, Gyan and Andre Ayew threatening - and it was Ayew who came close to handing his side the lead. Tagoe's excellent ball from the right eluded Vidic and, with Ayew unmarked from six yards, his stretching header crept wide.

Zigic was guilty of spurning a golden opportunity on the hour-mark as he failed to guide Marko Pantelic's cross on target and Aleksandar Lukovic, who was cautioned in the 54th minute, picked up his second yellow with quarter of an hour remaining.

His dismissal stirred Serbia into life and a number of half chances followed, with Krasic bringing a fine stop out of Kingson and Vidic heading over from the resulting corner-kick.

Branislav Ivanovic fired over the top from distance and, with just six minutes remaining, Kuzmanovic inexplicably handled and referee Hector Baldassi pointed to the spot and dished out a yellow card to the Stuttgart man for his offence.

Gyan kept his cool to slot home and, although Serbia huffed and puffed in the final moments, it was Gyan who came close to adding a second.

He broke clear and slid an effort beyond Stojkovic but his effort struck the post. Serbia flung men forward in pursuit of a last-gasp leveller but it was the Black Stars who held firm to land a crucial victory.