Milovan Rajevac has talked of his desire to see Ghana become a very big football team in the world by 2010 as he seeks to qualify the Black Stars to the World Cup finals.

The Serbian will lead his side into the final qualify stage beginning March 29 when the Black Stars host Benin at home in Group D and knows that anything short of victory against Ghana’s eastern neighbours will complicate matters.

Rajevac, who watched Ghana play their debut World Cup in Germany three years ago on TV says, qualifying to the finals in South Africa remains his motivation.

“I am here because of the World Cup. I believe in the ability of the Ghana national team to qualify for the World Cup once again. It’s a wonderful challenge which wouldn’t be easy but I am hopeful of leading Ghana to South Africa.”

After guiding the local Black Stars to silver honours at the maiden African Nations Championship, Rajevac has quickly turned his focus on the World Cup qualifiers as he prepares his side for the opening game at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi.

“I want to set up my team for the first World Cup game against Benin. That’s an important game we have to win and it’s also important to have a large pool to work with,” the Ghana coach said.

As Rajevac attempts to qualify Ghana for a second successive World Cup, the selection of players will be integral to his plans.

“There is a little bigger list that we can choose from but I have my list".

“Even though I have some players in mind, in football there would be changes as always because of loss of form and injuries.”

Despite any setback that might affect his plans, Rajevac has made room for some ‘special players’.

“There will always be special players. These are players who have to do something different for the team at different times. They play special roles for us,” he said.

Milovan Rajevac remains very confident in Ghana’s chances but calls for respect for all opponents especially, the Black Stars’ opponents for March 29, Benin.

“We don’t fear any team and we won’t underestimate any team".

“There are a lot of teams that for some people look not very good. But such teams have a lot of their players playing in Europe. Benin for instance has a lot of players playing in the French First Division. Such teams deserve respect.” gfa.org