By HOWARD ULMAN
FOXBORO, Mass. (June 20, 1999 5:15 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Down one goal and a player to boot, Ghana rallied to tie Australia 1-1 on Sunday and enhance its reputation as the surprise team of the Women's World Cup.
A longshot simply to qualify for the tournament, Ghana came away with a tie when substitute Nana Gyamfua scored in the 76th minute after Julie Murray connected for Australia in the 74th minute.
The tournament is especially significant to Australia, hoping to make a strong showing before the 2000 Olympics. As host country, it gets one of the eight automatic berths. But if it is not among the eight World Cup quarterfinalists, one of those teams will not get an Olympic spot.
Ghana played with 10 players after losing Barikiso Tettey-Quao to the first red card of the tournament in the 25th minute when she tackled Joanne Peters from behind.
That put a bigger burden on goalkeeper Memunatu Sulemana, who already had been outstanding against Australia's dominant attack. And she came through time after time until Murray scored on a chip shot over the diving Sulemana from about 10 yards on the right.
That could have been devastating to the hopes of Ghana, which qualified for its first World Cup after reaching the semifinals of the African Women's Soccer Championships. But Ghana came right back, scoring 1:17 after Australia had gone ahead.
Vivian Mensah shot from the left side and goalkeeper Tracey Wheeler slapped it to the right, where Gyamfua waited. Wheeler tried to get to the other side, but was too late as Gyamfua converted the rebound.
Both teams kept attacking and had excellent chances in injury time before a crowd of 14,873 - the smallest in the tournament's first two days.
First, Ghana was awarded a direct kick from 30 yards after Gyamfua collided with Australia's Traci Bartlett. But Elizabeth Baidu's hard shot smacked against the crossbar and bounced out.
Then Murray had the ball near the end line to the right of Sulemana. But the goalkeeper smothered the shot from a sharp angle. Seconds later, the game ended and Sulemana dropped to her knees, celebrating the tie after a busy afternoon.
In the other Group D game, China beat Sweden 2-1 on Saturday. The top two teams qualify for the quarterfinals after each plays three games.
