World Cup 2006 Groups: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H

Group E Team Profiles: Italy | Ghana | USA | Czech Republic

Ghana

Get the latest Ghana team news here

Ghana team kit

Ghana could be the team to really put the cat among the pigeons this summer. They have never before had a team at the World Cup Finals but their line-up possesses impressive midfield and defensive steel for such a prestigious occasion. Ghana have enjoyed considerable success at youth level in international football of late, winning the World Under-17 title on two occasions and finishing second at the World Youth Championship twice.

Success hasn't been a stranger at senior level either and Ghana have lifted the African Nations Cup four times in their history, although the most recent was in 1982. Michael Essien is the name most fans will be familiar with. The former Lyon star signed for Chelsea for a record fee of 24.4 million pounds this summer after a protracted transfer wrangle and could be one of the stars of the tournament.

Likewise, Sulley Ali Muntari who plays for Udinese attracted attention from Manchester United last summer but the Italians were unwilling to sell the highly rated midfielder. Having rejected the advances of the Old Trafford club, it remains to be seen what a summer on the World Cup platform will do for Muntari. Stephen Appiah, the Fenerbace midfielder, was bought by the Turkish side for 5.5 million pounds this summer from Juventus and, when all fully fit, Ghana have a formidable midfield to rival any that will be appearing in the competition.

Ghana Matches

Match # Date & Time Group Teams Result Venue
9 Mon 12th Jun 21:00 E  ITA  GHA 2 - 0 Hanover
26 Sat 17th Jun 18:00 E  CZE  GHA 0 - 2 Cologne
42 Thu 22nd Jun 16:00 E  GHA  USA 2 - 1 Nuremberg
55 Tue 27th Jun 17:00 R2  BRA  GHA 3 - 0 Dortmund

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

Key Players

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Squad

Total World Cup 2006
# Posn Name DOB Club Caps Goals Pld Goals OG YC RC
1 GK Adjei Sammy 01-09-1980 Ashdod ISR 31 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 DF Sarpei Hans 28-06-1976 Wolfsburg GER 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 FW Gyan Asamoah 22-11-1985 Modena ITA 17 9 3 1 0 3 1
4 DF Kuffour Samuel 03-09-1976 AS Rome ITA 60 3 1 0 0 0 0
5 DF Mensah John 26-11-1982 Rennes FRA 38 0 4 0 0 1 0
6 DF Pappoe Emmanuel 03-03-1981 Hapoel Kfar Saba ISR 30 0 2 0 0 0 0
7 DF Shilla Illiasu 20-06-1983 Asante Kotoko GHA 7 0 4 0 0 1 0
8 MF Essien Michael 03-12-1982 Chelsea ENG 21 4 3 0 0 2 0
9 MF Boateng Derek 02-05-1983 AIK Solna SWE 14 3 3 0 0 1 0
10 MF Appiah Stephen 24-12-1980 Fenerbahce TUR 47 12 4 1 0 2 0
11 MF Muntari Sulley 27-08-1984 Udinese ITA 20 6 3 1 0 3 0
12 FW Tachie-Mensah Alex 15-02-1977 St Gallen SUI 9 0 3 0 0 0 0
13 DF Mohamed Habib 10-12-1983 King Faisal GHA 3 0 2 0 0 1 0
14 FW Amoah Matthew 24-10-1980 Borussia Dortmund GER 21 7 4 0 0 0 0
15 DF Pantsil John 15-06-1981 Hapoel Tel-Aviv ISR 26 0 4 0 0 1 0
16 GK Owu George 07-07-1982 AshantiGold GHA 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 DF Quaye Daniel 25-12-1980 Hearts GHA 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 MF Addo Eric 12-11-1978 PSV Eindhoven NED 11 0 4 0 0 1 0
19 FW Pimpong Razak 30-12-1982 Copenhagen DEN 8 0 3 0 0 0 0
20 MF Addo Otto 09-06-1975 Mainz 05 GER 15 1 2 0 0 1 0
21 DF Ahmed Issah 24-05-1982 Randers FC DEN 10 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 GK Kingston Richard 13-06-1978 Ankaraspor TUR 38 0 4 0 0 0 0
23 MF Dramani Haminu 01-04-1986 Crvena Zvezda SCG 9 1 2 1 0 0 0