"Today we had big motivation. It was do or die ... I'm surprised it was only 2-0," Dujkovic said.

"I'm very happy. We are still in the battle for qualification. I believe we can pass. We had many chances to score ... Cech made many saves. He saved the Czech Republic this afternoon."

Cech said his teammates lost the initiative from the start.

"We let them do what they wanted," the keeper said. "They scored in 70 seconds and then we had to attack and they relied on counterattacks and added another goal."

Ghana dominated with Appiah and Michael Essien repeatedly exposing weaknesses in the Czech defense. Cech did well to stop a shot at close range from Amoah in the 70th, and again from Muntari three minutes later.

With Essien and Appiah running the Czech defense ragged, Cech also stopped a barrage of late shots, with Gyan missing another one-on-one chance in the 79th.

But Muntari found the net with a shot that left Cech no chance ¡ª and the Americans a better chance.

"It was a good victory for the team, my country and Africa as a whole," Essien said.

Five Africa teams are playing in the World Cup: Ghana, Angola, Ivory Coast, Togo and Tunisia.