Ghana, to the general relief of this fanatical football nation, are through to the African Nations Cup quarter-finals after a 2-0 win over Morroco here on Monday.
Michael Essien was at the heart of the success, scoring the first and setting up Sulley Muntari for the second.
With Guinea booking the other last eight berth from Group A defeat left Morocco heading home in a repeat of their first round exit in Egypt in 2006.
This was Ghana's third opening round win after Guinea (3-1) and Namibia (1-0) and it was received with raucous delight by the near capacity crowd at the 45,000 seater Ohene Djan stadium.
The Black Stars' reward for finishing as table toppers is a quarter-final date with the runners-up in Group B in Accra next Sunday.
Essien, after picking up his third consecutive man of the match award, said: "That was the best performance in this competition. For me I just want to do the best for my team, for my friends. Hopefully we can achieve something for the nation."
Ghana coach Claude Le Roy described his side's performance as "the best since I took charge".
The Frenchman, who led Cameroon to the 1988 title, added: "I want to say thank you to my players. They applied perfectly the way we'd decided to play. They were so dedicated, played so well, it was peprfect."
For his Moroccan counterpart Henri Michel defeat was hard to bear.
"We slipped up when we lost to Guinea. We failed but I'm not standing down, I haven't been in the job so long. We'll go away and reflect on what's happened here and prepare for 2010 World Cup qualifying."
Ghana were without their influential Hearts midfielder Laryea Kingston, suspended after picking up a second booking against the Namibians.
Michel made four changes to the side that fell to Guinea, including a switch of keepers, with Khalid Fouhami making way for Nadir Lamyaghri.
Le Roy insisted before the game that despite his side only needing a point it wasn't in his team's nature to play for a draw as he eyed a top of the table finish for the 2008 hosts.
And with words of encouragement from Ghana President John Kufuor ringing in their ears the Black Stars went into attacking mode from the start, Essien leading the charge from midfield.
Ghana went into a deserved lead on 26 minutes when Muntari neatly chipped in a freekick over the wall from the right for Essien to volley past Lamyaghri.
Morocco had the ball in the back of the net shortly after with a little help from Ghana defender John Paintsil but the West Ham defender's blushes were saved as the Gambian referee Modou Sowe had already blown for a foul. Down at the other end it was Asamoah Gyan's turn to trouble Lamyaghri. The Udinese striker, who had been set to quit the squad after taunts and threats about his nervy display against Namibia, hit low and hard from the left, his effort edging wide of the far post.
Morocco were putting together some decent moves but the Ghana defence marshalled by captain John Mensah ensured they came to nothing.
Ghana capped a fine first half with their second goal, with this time Essien charging through midfielder to flick the ball on for Muntari to shoot from the left of the box on 45 minutes.
It was always going to be a tall order for Morocco to come back from two goals down, not least with 45,000 vocal fans against them, and a Ghana side that bore little or no resemblance to the unconvincing model that edged past minnows Namibia.
There was a worrying moment in the 65th minute when Essien was stretchered off but the Chelsea star was quickly back on his feet, to the relief of Le Roy, his teammates, and the partisan crowd.
Only a fine reflex save from Lamyaghri to keep out Gyan's header from point-blank range stopped the Black Stars making it three, but the job had already been done.