Ghana team at World Cup 2010

Posted Friday, November 20, 2009 by

Stars in the making: Ghana were the youngest team in Germany four years ago, and could be a handful at World Cup 2010

Ghana's World Cup record: 2006 2nd rd.

How Ghana qualified for World Cup 2010: African Group D winners.

The Coach: Milovan Rajevac (Serbian, 55). Appointed: August 2008. WC experience: Player: None. Coach: None.

Rajevac is a Serbian who played for Borac Cacak, Red Star Belgrade, FK Vojvodina and Sloboda Tuzla.

The Country: The Black Stars were the only African side to advance to Round 2 of the World Cup in 2006, the sixth consecutive occasion an Africa nation had progressed beyond the group stages of a finals tournament. And, for the stats geeks, Ghana were the youngest team in the 2006 finals - with an average age of 23 yrs and 352 days.

Ghana beat Sudan 2-0 in Accra to become the first African side to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa from the qualifiers. Inter Milan's Sulley Muntari - once of Portsmouth - and Chelsea's Michael Essien scored the goals in each half to give Ghana an unassailable lead at the top of qualifying Group D.

Essien said: "The people of Ghana wanted us to win and we did not let them down. What a fantastic feeling to be the first African country to qualify for the first World Cup to be staged in Africa."

And Anthony Annan hit a late equaliser as Ghana completed their successful qualifying campaign with a 2-2 home draw against Mali.

Telegraph verdict: With players such as Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari performing for some of Europe’s top clubs, then Ghana, who threatened to do well in Germany in 2006, could be a major force in South Africa. As long as they remain disciplined - tales of Essien and co going AWOL don’t help - can be dangerous outsiders.