Group D - Ghana

Group D

Germany

Australia

Serbia

Ghana

Nickname: The Black Stars

Colors: You would think black, but actually their home kit is white while their away kit is red with yellow stripes

Current World Ranking: 31

Manager: Milovan Rajevac

To add a little element of drama to this group, Rajevac happens to be Serbian. He’s a former player and manager in the Serbian league and has been at the helm for Ghana since 2008, though his appointment was met with a lot of criticism in Ghana from fans who wanted a home grown coach. They also weren’t impressed with his resume, which lacked any big team or international coaching experience. But Rajevac has let his performance do the talking for him, helping the team to cruise through qualifying. He’s a defensive minded manager who likes to pack the midfield, which is just as well for Ghana because they lack a world-class striker.

History: Ghana gained their independence from Great Britain in 1957 but it took them another 50 years to qualify for their first World Cup in 2006.

Despite their lack of success outside of Africa, Ghana has been a dominant force on the continent, earning the nickname “The Brazil of Africa” back in the 60’s. They’ve won the African Cup of Nations 4 times making them the most successful nation behind Egypt. After a relative drought in the 90’s the team was basically taken over be a young crop of players at the 2002 African Cup of Nations that have remained in place through the 2004 Olympics, went undefeated in 2005, and announced their presence on the world stage at the 2006 World Cup. They were drawn into the “Group of Death” with Italy, the Czech Republic, and the United States. They were expected to finish last in the group and certainly looked like they would after a 2-0 defeat to eventual champs Italy in the opening match but they went on to shock the shit out of the Czech Republic, who had just spanked the US 5-0, by winning 2-0. They needed to beat the US in the final match and have Italy beat the Czech Republic and that’s exactly what happened. They conceded the US’s only legitimate goal of the tournament to Clint Dempsey but went on to win 2-1 to allow them to advance to the Round of 16 behind Italy and become the only African nation to do so. Unfortunately they came up against the Brazil of South America and lost 3-0, but overall the tournament was a huge success for the team especially considering they were the youngest team in the tournament with average age just under 24.

In the most recent African Cup of Nations held in Angola this past winter they were drawn into a group with Ivory Coast, Togo, and Burkina Faso. Togo withdrew from the tournament after their bus was savagely attacked by terrorists, killing three people. As tragic as that was, it benefited Ghana’s cause because it was too late for a team to replace Togo so the group competed with only three teams. Ghana lost to Ivory Coast 3-0 then beat Burkina Faso 1-0 and thanks to a draw between Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, Ghana advanced to the knockout stage. A series of 1-0 wins over Angola and Nigeria saw them advance to the finals where they lost to Egypt 1-0.

Players: Ghana is literally a who’s-who of international talent, with players on top-flight club teams all over the world. As mentioned, the manager employs a very defensive style and utilizes a strong midfield to control play. If they have a weakness it’s up front – their most promising striker, Dominic Adiyiah, is only 21 with just 3 caps and 1 goal under his belt but the players believe the team overall is stronger than the 2006 squad, especially now that many of the kids from the squad that won the 2009 U-20 World Cup are now on the roster. Despite all the talent on the Ghana team, it’s probably not an exaggeration to say that their hopes in this tournament rely on the fitness of one man:

Michael Essien – Midfielder

At 26 Essien is a powerful and versatile midfield player who contributes endless energy, a knack for goal, and a tough tackling style that has earned him the nickname “The Bison”. You might think that’s kind of odd but then you watch him play and you’re like, “Dear God, that guy plays like a bison.” He’s played for the English club Chelsea since 2005, which means I absolutely hate him. He was voted Chelsea’s player of the year in 2007, was nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007, and won the African Player of the Year award in 2005 and 2006 then became runner up for the same award in 2007. Unfortunately for Essien, his recent career has been marked by major injuries sustained on international duty. He missed almost the entire 2008-09 season due to a knee injury and then sustained another injury in the 2010 African Cup of Nations causing him to miss the entire rest of this current season and make him questionable for the World Cup. Early reports were that he’d make a full recovery in time but he recently said himself that he fears he’ll miss the tournament all together. While Ghana has plenty of quality players on the bench, Essien is the heart of the team and will be a huge loss if he can’t be fit in time.

Stephen Appiah – Midfielder (Captain)

If Essien’s fitness concerns weren’t enough, their captain also has injury concerns of his own. Having started at the age of 15 in the Italian Serie A, Appiah has had a sterling career as a “box-to-box” midfielder with the nickname “Tornado” for his constant energy or strong play on the pitch. Appiah has played for the national team since 1996 and was the one to score the penalty against the US in the ’06 cup to send them into the Round of 16. Unfortunately a devastating knee injury sustained in 2008 has largely kept him off the pitch, even with club team Bologna in Italy. If he and Essien do play, along with the next guy, Sulley Muntari, Ghana will have one of the best midfields in the tournament.

Sulley Muntari – Midfield

At just 25 years of age, Muntari is one of the most capped players for Ghana with 52 appearances and 15 goals. He first played for the team in 2002 but had a falling out when he was sent home from the 2004 Olympics for disciplinary issues. He vowed never to play for Ghana again but retracted a short while later and was accepted back into the team. He played in three of the team’s games in the ’06 cup, scoring against the Czech Republic, but missed the fourth game due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Muntari recently got himself back into hot water with the international team by purposely skipping a friendly match, though he’s still expected to be an integral part of the team this summer. He has played for Italian side Internazionale for the past two seasons.

Prediction: The same players that were the African darlings of the 2006 Cup are still basically intact and having come off a good, if a bit shaky, performance in the African Cup of Nations, Ghana could be expected to play well this summer, especially on their home continent. But like I said, it may come down to Essien’s fitness. The way I see it, Germany’s biggest challenge in this group with come from Serbia. If they can handle them, they’ll get out of the group unscathed on top. After that, the other three are a complete toss up for me. I could see each of them advancing in the second spot just as I could see each of them laying an egg and underperforming. This is one group I’ll be watching very closely though, as the runner up will face the winner of Group C.