| Outright Odds: 250/1 | | | | now plys his trade at Turkish outfit Fenerbahce |
| Group E Winners: 12/1 | | | | following eight seasons in Italy with Udinese, Parma, |
| After winning four African Cup of Nations titles and | | | | Brescia and Juventus. Sulley Muntari also brings with |
| producing players of the calibre of Abedi Pele and | | | | him Serie A experience as he is currently on the |
| Tony Yeboah, the Black Stars have qualified for the | | | | books at Udinese. |
| World Cup finals for the first time in 10 attempts, | | | | Ghana have been boosted in defence by the return of |
| stretching back to 1962. | | | | Roma centre half Samuel Kuffor. The former Bayern |
| Despite being a force in African football between the | | | | Munich defender was out of favour following a dispute |
| 1960s and 1980s, qualification for the World Cup was | | | | with the coach but since apologising he is back in |
| never a serious exercise and more recently the | | | | contention. Even without him Ghana boasted a mean |
| country suffered from poor management both on and | | | | defence, conceding just four goals in 10 qualifying |
| off the pitch to scupper their attempts to reach the | | | | matches, the least of any African nation. |
| 1994, 1998 and 2002 finals. | | | | Despite a strong setup, Ghana go into their World Cup |
| However, this problem was eradicated under new | | | | group as the unfancied outsiders which could work to |
| manager Ratomir Dujkovic. The Serbian took over in | | | | their advantage. They are pitted against one of the |
| December 2004 after Portuguese coach Mariano | | | | tournament favourites in Italy on their opening match |
| Barreto quit four months earlier. Dujkovic enjoyed | | | | so there is no real pressure for them. The team have |
| success with Rwanda, leading a team dubbed as no | | | | gelled well under Dujkovic and are capable of causing |
| hopers to their first African Cup of Nations finals in | | | | an opening match upset. |
| 2004. | | | | Beyond that they could struggle as they lack players |
| His influence was clear as Ghana won four of their | | | | with a true cutting edge in attack. The responsibility will |
| five remaining qualifying fixtures, including a 2-0 away | | | | be on Vitesse's Matthew Amoah and Modena's |
| victory over South Africa and eventually topping their | | | | 20-year old striker Gyan Asamoah. |
| group by five points at the expense of the Bafana | | | | Recommended Bet: |
| Bafana. | | | | Ghana are capable of catching out slow-starters Italy |
| Where Ghana excel is in midfield. Chelsea's Michael | | | | in their first match and qualifying from the group would |
| Essien is a key player for his country and has also | | | | be a major success. Further tough games against the |
| shone at club level, despite criticism of his £24.4 | | | | Czech Republic and USA could see the Black Stars |
| million price tag imposed by former club Lyon. They | | | | narrowly miss out. |
| are captained by left-footed Stephen Appiah who | | | | |