Ghana

Nickname: The Black Stars
FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking: 32

Ghana will be making their second consecutive appearance in the World Cup and are hoping to have a repeat performance of 2006, where they qualified for the second round. It may prove to be a difficult task as the 32st ranked team in the FIFA/Coca Cola World Rankings has been placed in Group D alongside Germany (ranked 6th), Serbia (ranked 15th) and Australia (ranked 20th). Many have dubbed this the “group of death.”

Ghana had the youngest team in the World Cup in 2006 and will most likely have many of the same players in South Africa. Many are predicting Ghana to perform well in this first World Cup on African soil. They did just that while qualifying, seemingly getting better as they went along. They are also coming off a good showing in the Africa Cup of Nations, where they made it to the finals with a team that lacked many of their high-powered stars. Over the last several years Ghana has been improving rapidly, led by an influx of young talent. In 2009, they became the first African team to win the under-20 World Cup.

Coach

Ghana is coached by Yugoslavian-born Milovan Rajevac, who took over the team in 2008. Rajevac does not have much international experience, but he has proven himself in his time with Ghana. A former defender himself, Rajevac has worked hard to get Ghana more organized and to keep them from making silly mistakes that lead to easy goals. After his fine qualification performance and good showing at the African Cup of Nations, he is already being considered one of the better coaches to ever lead the Black Stars.

Key Players

Ghana is led by one of the best African players ever, Michael Essien. Essien is an incredible defensive midfielder who can attack as well. He is a very consistent player who can always be counted on to provide energy and leadership. He is, however, coming off a knee injury and thus may not be in his best form coming into the World Cup. Essien is typically joined in the midfield by two other stars, Sulley Muntari and captain Stephen Appiah. These three players, if they remain healthy and are playing well, can be considered some of the best midfields in the world.

Two other names to remember on this Ghanaian team are forward Matthew Amoah and Asamoah Gyan. Gyan is a very fast and dangerous player on the counter attack, and Amoah led Ghana with four goals during qualification.