Michael Essien, the Black Stars' 23-year-old midfield dominator, led Lyon to the past two French titles before making a $43 million move to Chelsea this season (qualifying him as the most expensive player in African soccer history). "The Bison" is out for the African Cup of Nations with an ankle injury, but the teams in Group E of the World Cup (Italy, Czech Republic and the United States.) will have a hard time matching his vast talents as a midfield destroyer.

Captain Stephen Appiah is a dangerous central midfielder who has the ability to create goals (as he did in Ghana's huge 2-0 World Cup qualifying win at South Africa last June) or scoring them himself. Also intriguing is the recent return of defender Sammy Kuffour, who appears to have ironed out his conflicts with Ghana's federation in time for the biggest year in his country's soccer history. Kuffour will bring plenty of big-game experience to a back line that could use some.

What to watch for

The Black Stars have always been one of the great mysteries of African soccer, somehow winning a record four African Cup of Nations titles and two world under-17 crowns without ever qualifying for the World Cup?-- until now. Their run through World Cup qualifying was truly remarkable, sparking a national embarrassment for 2010 Cup host South Africa. Aside from Essien, Ghana doesn't have any superstars, but Dujkovic's outfit is blessed with good chemistry and plenty of speed. Dujkovic may have been unsuccessful in prying Freddy Adu from the U.S.'s clutches, but his team could give the U.S. fits on the field.

You'd think it would be no small task to get scouting materials on Ghana, but the U.S. should actually be in pretty good shape for its preparations. Assistant coach Curt Onalfo was in attendance at Ghana's 1-0 opening-game loss on Monday at the Cup of Nations in Egypt, and the Ghanaians will meet Mexico on March 1 in Dallas. How many of Ghana's first-teamers will be on hand that day remains to be seen.

Group: E (Italy, United States, Czech Republic).

Key match in group stage: June 12 vs. Italy. Ghana could get a huge kick-start to its World Cup campaign if it can secure a tie or a win against the notoriously slow-starting Italians.

Oddsmakers' line: 250-1.

Projected Starting Lineup

Pos.	Player	Club team
G	Sammy Adjei	Mohadon Sports Ashdod (Israel)
D	John Mensah	Cremonese (Italy)
D	John Pantsil	Ashdod Tel Aviv (Israel)
D	Sammy Kuffour	AS Roma (Italy)
D	Emmanuel Pappoe	Ashdod Tel Aviv (Israel)
M	Sulley Ali Muntari	Udinese (Italy)
M	Michael Essien	Chelsea (England)
M	Stephen Appiah	Fenerbah?e (Turkey)
M	Kingston Laryea	Krylya Sovietov Samara (Russia)
F	Matthew Amoah	Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
F	Asamoah Gyan	Modena (Italy)