Ireland coach Brian Kerr, whose team drew 1-1 with Nigeria after extra time, said his side would have won the tie had it not been for the searing afternoon heat in the Northern city of Kano.

``The boys are drained because of the heat. Without it we would have beaten Nigeria,'' he said. Ireland stunned the crowd by taking a first half lead through Richie Sadlier, his second goal of the tournament. Pius Ikedia equalised in the second half.

Nigeria won 5-3 on penalties after Ireland's Thom Heary had his kick saved by Sam Okoye.

Costa Rica coach Carlos Watson also said the heat in nearby Kaduna was to blame for his team's defeat.

The Costa Ricans'performance was a pale shadow of their 2-1 first round win over Germany, their attack failing to produce a serious shot on goal.

Owusu Afriyie set Ghana on their way with a long-range shot in the 18th minute. Peter Ofori-Quaye added the second 11 minutes from time.

The evening games produced more action. Brazil, who beat Zambia 5-1 in the previous match, scored four more in Calabar, two coming from Gremio striker Ronaldo and one each from Edu and Fernando Baiano.

``We are getting better and better. Now I think we can reach the final and after that anything is possible,'' said Brazil coach Joao Carlos Oliveira.

They now move to Lagos for Sunday's quarter-final against Uruguay whose clash with Paraguay was the most dramatic of the day.

Santa fails to cruz: Paraguay came from two goals behind to draw 2-2 during 90 minutes, only to lose 10-9 in a marathon penalty shootout. Striker Roque Santa Cruz, who scored both Paraguay goals, missed the crucial spot kick. Ernesto Chevanton gave Uruguay,runners-up in Malaysia two years ago, a halftime lead. Diego Forlan increased the advantage in the 50th minute before Santa Cruz led Paraguay's fightback.

Uruguay had captain Omar Pouso and right-back Damian Macaluso sent off for two bookable offences while Paraguay's Elvis Marecos was also shown the red card for a crude challenge before halftime.

Today's matches (PQF): Argentina v Mexico, Japan v Portugal, Mali v Cameroon, Spain v US.

Giggs digs Arsenal grave
London: Ryan Giggs ran through the entire Arsenal defence to score one of the greatest FA Cup goals of all time yesterday and put Manchester United into the final after a pulsating 2-1 victory over the defending titelist.

His team down to 10 men and under constant pressure in extra time, Giggs collected the ball 70 yards out. He ran towards goal, dribbled past two defenders on the edge of the area and then weaved past two more before firing a powerful, left-foot shot into the roof of David Seaman's net.

``It was unbelievable,''United manager Alex Ferguson said of Giggs' goal.

``We have got to put that game in the memory bank.''