Italy's Vincenzo Iaquinta celebrates his goal against Ghana during the first round match of the World Cup 2006 Group E in Hanover, Germany, June 12, 2006. Italy won 2-0. -Xinhua

Substitute forward Vincenzo Iaquinta's late strike sealed a 2-0 win for Italy in their opening match against World Cup Group E rivals Ghana in Hannover on Monday night.

The Udinese top striker beat a Ghana defender and the goalkeeper in a solo run, steering the ball right into the open goal in the 83rd minute.

AC Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo's 39th minute powerful volley, a right-footed shot from outside the box, had given Italy a 1-0 half-time advantage.

Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic said that their opponents were the superior team.

"They were very good," Dujkovic said. "All the stories (on match-fixing) in Italy at the moment have not affected them. They deserved to win.

"Maybe we had some chances but we missed. With one group of players I'm satisfied, with another I am not."

But Dujkovic remains buoyant that Ghana can bounce back and get their campaign rolling in Cologne against the Czech Republic on Saturday.

"We lost one match and now we'll try to win the next," he added.

Luca Toni, the winner of last season's Italian first division Golden Boot after scoring 31 goals for Fiorentina, led the line well for them and could potentially be a star of the tournament.

After 27 minutes he almost scored with a superb piece of individual skill.

The 29-year-old controlled an Alberto Gilardino flick-on before unleashing a venomous volley that thumped the crossbar and bounced down in front of the line.

The Italians were looking the more incisive team against their African rivals, who also had their moments.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi paid tribute to Ghana after the match.

"Our opponents showed themselves to be as strong as we thought they would be," said Lippi.

"In certain aspects they were better than us. But I think overall we deserved to win.

"From a psychological point of view the first match is always difficult to win and I thought the lads did really well to close it out." he noted.

Ghana's defender Emmanuel Pappoe got a solo run in the 31st minute but his shot was too high from the bar.

Ghana were the better side after the interval as they pushed forward in search of an equaliser.

In the 72nd minute, Ghana forward Asamoah Gyan tried a flying slide shot at the goalmouth but his right foot failed to touch the ball, just an inch wide.

With 12 minutes remaining, Ghana players demanded a penalty after Asamoah Gyan was brought down inside Italy's area by De Rossi but referee Carlos Simon who was close to the action said to play on.

Shortly after, Michael Essien's long distance effort went off-target.

The Italians, marshalled by captain Fabio Cannavaro in central defence, held firm and threatened on the counter-attack.

Ghana created many scoring chances in the game but few of their shots were on goal.

With the win, three-time world champions Italy collected the same points in the group E with the Czech Republic who routed the United States 3-0 earlier.