Johnny come home

John Paintsil's Ghana are out of the African Nations Cup after going down 1-0 to Cameroon in this evening's first semi-final.

The Black Stars, playing in front of their home crowd failed to make the final thanks to a 71st minute winner from Alain Nkong, making his first start for his country in seven years.

The game was marred by a bizarre sending off for Cameroon's Andre Bikey, who received his marching orders in the final minute of the game after pushing over a medical assistant who was attempting to remove Biki's team mate Rigobert Song from the pitch.

He misses Sunday's final as a result; the Cameroon - who will face Egypt in the final - will be seeking to win their fifth ANC title.

Paintsil - who played the full 90 minutes - is set to return to England following this weekend's third place play-off against the Ivory Coast, and will therefore miss Saturday's Premier League clash with Birmingham at The Boleyn Ground.