Stephen Appiah's disputed penalty fired Ghana into the World Cup second round with a 2-1 Group E victory over the USA.

After a bright start in Nurnberg, Ghana opened the scoring after 22 minutes when Haminu Dramani stole the ball off Claudio Reyna and kept his head to curl a fine effort beyond Kasey Keller.

And the Black Stars could have made it 2-0 when Razak Pimpong dragged a left-footed shot just wide of the post.

The USA refused to lie down and Eddie Lewis' cross into the box almost picked out Brian McBride before being scrambled to safety.

But they were back on level terms just a minute before the break when DaMarcus Beasley burst clear of the Ghana defence and swung over a magnificent cross for Clinton Dempsey to rifle a powerful volley low into the net.

But in stoppage time at the end of the first half, German referee Markus Merk penalised Oguchi Onyewu for what looked like a perfectly fair challenge in the box and Appiah kept his composure to drill his penalty into the roof of the net.

The US made a forceful start to the second half forcing a series of free-kicks and corners, but it was Ghana who went close to extending their lead when Matthew Amoah's strike forced a magnificent diving save from Keller.

Lewis' superb run and cross then presented McBride with an opportunity but he could only watch in frustration as his header cannoned back off the post, while Carlos Bocanegra's deflected effort landed on the roof of the net.

But despite their best efforts, there was no way through for the USA as their World Cup adventure came to an early end and instead it is Ghana who go through as runners-up behind Group E winners Italy.