A tournament which had produced some thrilling, wide-open football finished with a 120-minute grind of a final, no goals and a first FIFA World Youth Cup for Ghana after a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
    The shoot-out didn't mirror the game. As so often happens, a sending off can kill a game rather than opening it up.
    That was the case Friday in Cairo where Ghana went a man down in the first half when defender Daniel Addo was shown a direct red for a tackle on the halfway line in the 37th minute. It looked to be a certain yellow card; when Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere showed red it was harsh.
    Instead of Brazil being able to pour forward and play with freedom, the Africans put up the shutters and frustrated their opponents. The result was a scoreless 90 minutes, Brazil dragged into extra time by the combination of the number of Ghanians between them and goal and their own lack of something special to unlock the door.
    Brazil's Maicon failed to take one great chance in the first period of extra time, but much of it unreeled as had regulation time. The South Americans had plenty of possession, but the finish was never quite right. And Ghana's perservance was rewarded.
    In the opener, Hungary took third place on penalties after a 90-minute penalty got them a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica. The teams went directly to penalties, Hungary winning 2-0 as the Ticos failed with all four of their spot kicks.