WUERZBURG, Germany - World Cup debutants Ghana are cpable of reaching the semi-finals and are not overawed at the thought of meeting world champions Brazil in the first knockout round, their coach said on Saturday.

"It's not important who it is in the second round, whether Brazil, Japan, Croatia or Australia. We're strong enough to reach the semi-finals," Ratomir Dujkovic told a news conference on Saturday, two days before their Group E opener with Italy.

No African team has got past the quarter-final stage reached by Cameroon in 1990 and Senegal in 2002.

Despite being World Cup newcomers Ghana have a strong profile in Africa, having won the Nations Cup four times.

Their squad is centred around Africa's most expensive footballer Michael Essien of Chelsea and combative captain Stephen Appiah, once of Juventus, now at Fenerbahce.

"Everyone knows that this is the first time Ghana is in the World Cup and it is a first World Cup for me. But our players are mostly five or more years in higher level clubs in Europe... We are not worried about the matches," Dujkovic said.

"We came to compete not to participate. Any team we face has to suffer to beat us."

DIFFERENT OUTFIT

Dujkovic, 60, teetered on the brink of dismissal in January when Ghana lost in the group stage of the African Nations Cup, although he could justifiably blame injuries to key players, including Essien.

The Serbian coach said the Black Stars would be a completely different outfit at the World Cup.

Their scoring problems also appeared to have cleared up, Dujkovic said.

"In the last campaign we had problems there, but now our guys are scoring. Eight goals in recent friendlies have given us great confidence," he said.

Ghana open their Group E campaign against Italy on Monday and Czech Republic on June 17 before a final match against the United States five days later.

The competition is keen not just for the two qualifying spots but for first place which would probably mean avoiding a second round clash with Brazil who are expected to top group F.

Asked about the prospect of facing the champions as Group E runners-up, Ghana defender Samuel Kuffour warned the world to expect surprises.

"Brazil have not yet qualified. In football nowadays anything is possible... Of course, if we play against them it is a dream. If we lose no one will say anything."