Italy's dream of collecting a first Olympic gold since the Berlin Games of 1936 nearly turned into a nightmare on Thursday evening as Ghana, expertly marshalled by Juventus hopeful Stephen Appiah, ruthlessly converted their chances to lead by two goals at the break. But coach Claudio Gentile's men upped the ante after the interval and rescued a deserved point by the final whistle.

"I'd like to see stylish football and get off to a good start," Gentile said before his side opened their Olympic campaign against the African side in Volos. The match began slowly, with Italy gradually gaining the upper hand as AC Milan playmaker Andrea Pirlo lived up to his pre-match billing as the star creative midfielder on display. However, the first chance fell to Ghana, Emmanuel Osei seeing his 30 metre drive fly over the bar on 11 minutes.

A further 12 minutes passed before Alberto Gilardino tamely headed the Italians' first real chance into the keeper's arms. The European side began to run short of ideas against the mobile, skilful Africans, although Giuseppe Sculli's 33rd minute shot on the turn skidded narrowly wide. Now the Ghanaians began to emerge from their shell and were soon rewarded for their efforts: Baffour Gyan started the move that allowed Appiah to tee up Emmanuel Pappoe to skilfully fire his side into a 36th minute lead.

Just a minute later, the Italians stormed upfield only for Daniele de Rossi to curl a strike just wide with the outside of the boot. Sculli blasted over and Pirlo narrowly missed with a free-kick five minutes from the interval before Angelo Palombo came agonisingly close on the stroke of half-time. But in the dying seconds of the first period, Ghana struck with clinical precision. Appiah set off on a mazy dribble, leaving three Italians in his wake before unleashing an unstoppable drive to send the Africans in at the break two goals to the good.

Perfect start to second half

Gentile's side emerged from the dressing room with fire in their bellies and were immediately rewarded as Gianpiero Pinzi latched onto a long through ball to volley an unstoppable drive past keeper George Owu four minutes into the half. The European giants pressed but Ghana held firm and the ever-dangerous Appiah blasted over on 55 minutes.

Denmark-based strike duo Kwadwo Poku and Razak Pimpong worked hard to relieve the increasing pressure, but the Azzurri maintained the impetus and de Rossi came close on 63 minutes. Still the Africans held out: the left-footed Pimpong showed his talent with a shot on the turn before Man of the Match Appiah came close to settling the issue with a quarter of an hour remaining. The action moved to the other end and de Rossi was unlucky to see his goal-bound effort beat the keeper but not defender John Mensa after 78 minutes.

The Italians finally achieved the breakthrough a few minutes later with a move brilliantly instigated by Simone del Nero. Gilardino's first effort was blocked by Owu, but the striker followed up to level with seven minutes remaining. Just three minutes later, del Nero evaded the offside trap but squandered a golden opportunity to seal the points with only Owu to beat. The match duly finished in a draw, leaving both teams hopeful of reaching the quarter-finals.

The coaches were satisfied enough with a share of the spoils. Commented Ghana's Portuguese boss Mariano Barreto: "We've watched a very interesting match. I'm happy with the draw despite the fact we were leading 2-0 at half-time. You're never truly safe against an Italian team. We knew they'd come out fighting but we still let them score early in the second half. But I'm proud of my team and I think they've played well tonight." Observed Italy coach Gentile: "We were two goals behind at half-time, so we can be delighted we didn't lose. It's obvious we're short of match practice. We haven't played a serious match since 8 June whereas Ghana have contested five or six friendlies. But we improved in the second half and applied some pressure."