Avram Grant's penalty shoot-out misery continued as Ghana lost the Africa Cup of Nations final against Ivory Coast.

There were no goals in normal time or extra-time in Equatorial Guinea, and Ivory Coast went on to win 9-8 in sudden death, with veteran keeper Boubacar Barry, 35, saving two spot-kicks and scoring the winner.

In 2008, Grant steered Chelsea to their first Champions League final, which they lost to Manchester United in Moscow, also on penalties.

Grant was in jovial mood on Saturday, saying he was going to telephone Chelsea captain John Terry to get advice about taking penalties.

But his mood turned to anguish 24 hours later. He said: "I’m so proud of my team and they always make me happy. To reach the final is a big achievement. The players have shown a lot of good things at this tournament.

“We were the better side against a team that has some of the best players around. It was down to penalties and the opponent scored one more than us.

“Every Ghanaian can be proud of this team.”