"Andrea Pirlo, he's the danger man," Appiah said.

He was correct.

With both teams threatening often but failing to capitalize, Italy changed its tactics slightly on its 10th corner kick.

Instead of directing the ball in front of the goal, Totti slipped a short pass back to Pirlo beyond the corner of the area and the midfielder sent in a low, angled shot from 22 yards that found its way into the net through a maze of players. It was Pirlo's fifth goal in his 23rd appearance for Italy.

"Today my son asked me to score. I'm happy I pulled it off," Pirlo said.

Totti exited in the 55th after sticking his left leg in for a tackle on John Painstil. After writhing in pain for a few seconds and grasping his leg, Totti was eventually helped up by team physician Enrico Castellacci.

Iaquinta came on in the 64th. His goal was the product of a defensive error by Samuel Kuffour, after which Iaquinta sailed in alone, faked out goalkeeper Richard Kingston, and put the ball into the unguarded net.

"To score in your first World Cup match is such an emotional event," Iaquinta said. "I couldn't believe the opportunity that Kuffour presented me with."

Ghana next plays the Czechs, also on Saturday.

"I think they deserved to win the match. They scored two goals and we missed some chances," Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic said. "We lost one match and now we'll try to win the next."

That would be Saturday against the Czech Republic.