Legendary Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan has slammed referee Ismael Elfath for his decision to award a dubious penalty to Portugal.
The American referee awarded a penalty to Portugal after Mohammed Salisu challenged Ronaldo for a 50-50 ball in the 18-yard box of Ghana.
Although replays showed that the Ghanaian got a touch on the ball and despite calls for VAR review, Elfath stood by his decision, with Ronaldo converting the spot kick to put Portugal ahead.
Ronaldo beautifully converted the spot kick to break the deadlock as the Portuguese went ahead to record a 3-2 win over Ghana.
Speaking after the game, Gyan, who has played in three different World Cups criticized the decision of the referee.
“The penalty decision was poor and soft,” Gyan said on SuperSport.
“I am a striker but what we saw was soft and should not be a penalty,” he added.
The victory for Portugal means that, they are currently top of group H.
South Korea and Uruguay earlier on Thursday afternoon also drew goalless in their opening gane.
Ghana will hope to secure their first win when they come up against South Korea on Monday at the Education City Stadium with kick-off scheduled at 13:00GMT.