Michael Essien missed the African Nations Cup through injury
|
Ghana are not afraid of their Group E opponents at the World Cup after receiving a boost from the return of midfielder Michael Essien.
The Black Stars arrived in Germany on Monday on the back of a morale-boosting 3-1 warm-up victory over South Korea.
"This is the first time we've had a full squad in seven months," team coordinator Anthony Baffoe said.
"We are prepared and not scared. We're looking forward to our first match," said former international Baffoe.
The Black Stars play Italy in their opening match on 12 June before facing the Czech Republic and the United States in Group E.
All three scorers in Sunday's friendly against the Koreans were missing from Ghana's dismal African Nations Cup earlier this year.
The Black Stars went out in the first round - a failure that threw the team into months of gloom.
"We're been improving every game... People back home didn't have so much hope in us. Now we're back on track," said Baffoe, a former Bundesliga player with FC Cologne.
Baffoe said Ghana has no injury worries except for a "minor problem" facing reserve goalkeeper Richard Kingston, expected to keep him out of training for two or three days.
Since their World Cup roster was announced last month, Ghana drew 1-1 with Turkey and easily defeated Jamaica 4-1.
The results relieved Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic, who had faced calls to resign after January's Nations Cup disaster.
"Ghanaians are strong, (and have) good skill and a good team," Dujkovic said.
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
