Ghana Draws Italy, Czech & US

LEIPZIG, Germany, Dec. 9 -- Ghana found itself in a difficult first-round group at the conclusion of today's World Cup draw. Newcomer Ghana , hoping to impress, will face Italy, the Czech Republic and the United States in next summer in Germany.

Ghana will open June 12 against the Italy in Hanover, followed by matches against the Czechs five days later in Cologne and versus USA on June 22 in Nuremberg.

Ghana, nicknamed the Black Stars, is in the World Cup for the first time, but was African champion in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982. Michael Essien, who plays for Chelsea, is among the five finalists for African player of the year.

"It's going to be very difficult," Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic said. "This is going to be big pressure on my players."

So what will Arena be doing if the U.S. team advances to a second-round matchup, most likely against defending champion Brazil, Croatia or Australia?
"I'll be drinking in the hotel bar," he said.
Ratomir Djukovic, (GHA coach)
"I don?t think we can get into first position, but naturally we will try and maybe we can surprise somebody. The favourites in our group are the Italians and the Czech Republic as they are both very, very strong. We have quite a few of our squad with experience of playing Italy and they know a lot of their players, but that won?t be a key to that particular match of course. We have plenty of time to spy on the other teams now and also for them to put their spies onto us. I am an optimist and my team will be optimistic also. We will fight until the last minute to try to get past their first stage and if we manage that, it will be like becoming FIFA World Cup winners."

Group A
Germany
Costa Rica
Poland
Ecuador

Group B
England
Paraguay
Trinidad and Tobago
Sweden

Group C
Argentina
C?te d'Ivoire
Serbia and Montenegro
Netherlands

Group D
Mexico
Iran
Angola
Portugal

Group E
Italy
Ghana
United States
Czech Republic

Group F
Brazil
Croatia
Australia
Japan

Group G
France
Switzerland
Korea Republic
Togo

Group H
Spain
Ukraine
Tunisia
Saudi Arabia