Uruguay star striker Diego Forlan, 31, was voted the Man of the Match after the most dramatic, stunning and heartbreaking World Cup quarterfinal between Uruguay and Ghana here on Friday.

After 120 minutes and a 1-1 draw at Soccer City, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez was sent off in the final minute of extra time for blocking the ball with his hands on the line, but Ghana's No. 1 striker Asamoah Gyan, who had collected three goals in the World Cup, hit the bar with his spot-kick to send the tie to a penalty shootout.

Ghana, who was so close to make history of becoming the first-ever African team to enter World Cup semifinals, collapsed as skipper John Mensah and forward Dominic Adiyiah missed to send Uruguay through to a semifinal clash against the Netherlands, as Uruguay forward Sebastian Abreu chipped the winner down the middle to fix the final score at 4-2.

A 30-yard powerful shot from Inter Milan player Sulley Muntari in the 45th minute found the net and lifted Ghana to 1-0 lead at halftime.

Forlan, the Atletico Madrid forward, got the equaliser in the 55th minute. His glorious free kick bent over the wall, dipping and swerving, and touched the top right corner of the net.

Now surely a shoo-in for the Team of the Tournament, Forlan was at the heart of everything that was good for Uruguay. Working the line excellently, dropping deep intelligently and taking all of Uruguay's set-pieces largely to great effect, Forlan capped his performance with his third goal of the World Cup finals.