An early penalty from Dejan Damjanovic was enough to give Montenegro a 1-0 victory over Ghana in Podgorica on Wednesday.

The Black Stars went into the match with almost all their World Cup cards but were unable to recover from the early goal.

The homeside broke the deadlock from the spot in less than one minute after David Addy brought down an opponent in the area. Damjanovic quickly converted the penalty to give the hosts an early advantage.

AC Milan midfielder, Michael Essien started as the captain after Kwesi Appiah decided to bench Asamoah Gyan.

The likes of Kevin Prince Boateng, Sulley Muntari, Kwadwo Asamoah and Andre Ayew also started from the bench.

After the goal, the two teams were almost pecked on the same strength. Both sides got quite a few chances but failed to score.

Ghana goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey who stepped in the absence of Fatau Dauda rose to the occasion the few times he was called to duty.

The match happened to be one of the dress rehearsals for Ghana ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Brave Falcons who will not be at the 2014 World Cup gave Ghana a good test.

Appiah gave a few players the chance to prove themselves as he continues to look for his last materials to close down on his roll call for the tournament.