Ghana (National Football)

Today, Ghana's World Cup chances have taken a serious blow as star midfielder Michael Essien has officially been ruled out for the World Cup.

Essien, who is considered by some to be the best African player eligible for this World Cup, injured his hamstring back in a December 8 Champions League clash for his club Chelsea against APOEL.

After taking a month off, Essien returned prematurely to January's African Cup of Nations, which resulted in a knee injury that knocked Essien out for the rest of his domestic league season with Chelsea.

Essien still continued to rehabilitate himself in order to get fit for this World Cup, but this announcement has ended all hopes for Essien to play for the Black Stars in South Africa.

The Ghana Football Association also announced that "Essien will not make a full recovery until the end of July."

Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac had been publicly optimistic but also insisted that the squad can still succeed without Essien, as "there are other young and hungry players who will be equally passionate to play."

Overall, Essien is one of the best midfielders in the world today and was a major reason why Ghana was the only African nation that was able to make the Round of 16 in the 2006 World Cup.

Ghana opens the World Cup on June 13 against Serbia at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, followed by Australia on June 18 at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenberg and Germany on June 23 at Johannesburg's Soccer City (which will be hosting the World Cup final on July 11).

Even though they are in only their second World Cup, hopes are high for Ghana after their trip to the round of 16 in 2006, despite the fact that the Black Stars are in a Group of Death for the second straight World Cup.

This year, the group that Ghana find themselves in is Group D, which consists of Serbia, Australia, and Germany .

With the World Cup now less than three weeks away, here is my preview of Ghana's Group D matches.

Serbia v Ghana

Date: June 13, 2010

Venue: Loftus Versfeld Stadium (Pretoria)

In one of the best opening matches in this World Cup, Serbia and Ghana will meet in a matchup that could indicate who will advance in Group D besides the favorite Germany.

With a very strong defense for Serbia and an offense that can probably score on anyone in Ghana, this will certainly be a very entertaining match to watch.

To me, this entire match will come down to the Ghanaian defenders, who certainly will need a strong match against a Serbian attack that contains the likes of Nikola Žigić and Danko Lazović.

In the end, I see this match ending in a 2-2 draw, as Ghana will have a 2-1 lead, but Serbia will find a way to score with about fifteen minutes remaining to secure the draw.

Ghana v Australia

Date: June 19, 2010

Venue: Royal Bafokeng Stadium (Rustenberg)

Another match in Group D that will have major implications on who will advance into the round of 16, this will be a must win match for both sides.

For Ghana, this could be their most winnable match of the entire World Cup group stage, as they are playing an Australian side that is not playing on all cylinders.

And that factor will be huge in Rustenberg, as Ghana will put together possibly their best match of the entire tournament as they will beat Australia 2-0.

Ghana v Germany

Date: June 23, 2010

Venue: Soccer City (Johannesburg)

The most intriguing match in Group D, there will be lots at stake, maybe more than any other group stage match in this World Cup match.

The reason why this is true is due to the tackle by German-born midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng (who now plays for Ghana) on German captain Michael Ballack in the FA Cup final back on May 15.

Now in this match, there will be an extra edge at Soccer City that probably would not be in place if it weren't for Boateng's tackle.

But in this match, I see Ghana getting several favorable calls in this match with the Black Stars being "the home nation".

And with that, Ghana will pull out a great 3-1 win, which will give Ghana the top spot in Group D as they will most likely face the United States in the round of 16.

Finally, it will be interesting to see what will happen to Ghana in this World Cup as one of the "host nations", and hopefully my prediction will come true as Ghana look to make a deep run in this World Cup.

Brief History

Despite being the second most successful team in the history of the African Nations Cup with four tournament wins, Ghana only made their World Cup debut in Germany four years ago.

Nicknamed the Black Stars and one of the founding members of the Confederation of African Football, they were the first African nation to win a medal at the Olympic Games.

Last Time Out

Drawn in a tough group in 2006, Ghana opened the tournament with a defeat to eventual winner Italy (0-2) but upset the more fancied Czech Republic (2-0) and defeated the USA (2-1) to progress to the knock-out stages, where they were comprehensively defeated 3-0 by Brazil.

Coach

Milovan Rajevac

Appointed in 2008 to succeed Claude Le Roy, Rajevac has fared better than others in withstanding the intense spotlight thrust upon the incumbent by the Ghanaian media and public.

The Serbian national previously took unfashionable FC Vojvodina to third place in the Meridian Superliga, winning a place in the UEFA Cup. He will lead the Black Stars against his country men on June 13th.

Key Players

Michael Essien

A key player for club side Chelsea, Essien’s extraordinary fitness and versatility rank him as one of the most valuable players in the world. Nicknamed "the Bison" by former Lyon teammates because of his physical strength, Essien is in doubt for the tournament after failing to recover from an injury sustained playing at the African Cup of Nations in January.

Sulley Muntari

An attacking midfielder who rose to prominence at the last tournament in Germany, Muntari won the FA Cup playing for Portsmouth under Harry Redknapp before earning a move to Internazionale, where he was featured intermittently, often from the bench.

One of Ghana’s few key players not to arrive at the tournament under an injury cloud, Muntari’s energy and attacking instinct will be relied upon to create opportunities for teammates.

One to watch

Asamoah Gyan

One of a number of players to impress in their World Cup debut in 2006, Gyan showed flashes of promise at Udinese before succumbing to injury in January 2008 and falling out of favour at the Italian club.

He joined Stade Rennais in July of the same year and has scored 14 goals in 41 appearances with the French club. Still only 24, Ghana will look to the livewire forward to find form and produce goals on football’s biggest stage.

Fixtures

Match 8: Serbia vs. Ghana 13/6 16.00 (Pretoria)

Match 24: Ghana vs. Australia 19/6 16.00 (Rustenburg)

Match 39: Ghana vs. Germany 23/6 20.30 (Johannesburg)

Prediction

With key players Michael Essien, John Mensah and captain Stephen Appiah among eight regulars doubtful due to injury in the lead up to the tournament, Ghana may struggle to progress from one of the hardest groups.

They open the tournament against a Serbian team short on star names, but who are highly organised and finished atop of a qualifying group that included France.

Next up are an equally organised Australian team who defend from the front and are now greatly experienced at the international level. If they fail to take points in these games, victory against perennial contenders Germany in the final game is a tall order.

With so many potential absentees and a tough draw, Ghana will struggle to match their showing in 2006. But if enough players prove their fitness in time for the first game, they will be in with as much chance as Australia and Serbia of finishing second, where a tie against either England or the USA would be the likely reward.

The 2009/2010 FA Cup final between Michael Ballack's Chelsea and Kevin Prince Boateng's Portsmouth was an eventful one, and one that will definitely have an effect on Group D at the 2010 World Cup. Didier Drogba got the applauds for helping the Blues clinch their first ever double.

But what grabbed the headlines in Germany especially was Kevin Prince Boateng's horrible tackle on Michael Ballack's ankle. Today, we look at how the tattooed pro-Ghanaian player may have sold Porstmouth's FA Cup luck to Ghana ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.

(Note: this article is purely based on suppositions. No idea inside has been confirmed by reports.)

Kevin Prince Boateng's injury to Michael Ballack

Ghana and Germany have both been drawn in Group D at the 2010 World Cup. Following Ghana's recent success at the continental level and at the U-20 level, soccer analysts have tipped the country to survive the group stages in South Africa. On paper, the Black Star's strongest opponents in the table are Germany.

While Ghanaians feel that the team might take points away from Australia and Serbia, they view Germany's potential as a great obstacle to Ghana's chances of reaching the Round of 16. However, Black Stars fans have started to put their faith in Kevin Prince Boateng's presence in the squad.

The aggressive midfielder , who was born to a Ghanaian father and a German mother but opted to switch nationalities, is expected to create wonders against his brother's Germany through his inspirational love for Ghana.

Now his reckless challenge on Michael Ballack, which will keep the latter out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, may have been a plot against Joachim Lowe's men at the benefit of the Black Stars. Without Michael Ballack, everyone knows how fragile Germany's hopes of winning the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa have become.

(Check out these interesting stories on one of soccer's leading live streaming sites on the net!

2010 World Cup: Germany Captain Michael Ballack’s Injury, A Ghana Conspiracy

2010 World Cup: Why Australia Could Be Favored By Ghana )

Kevin Prince Boateng's Belief In His African And Jokers Tattoos

The 6 ft 1⁄2 in tall man, whose body is covered with thirteen tattoos once spoke about some of his tattoos on his biceps, saying:

"Here you see Africa and Ghana from my father. I have the name of my wife and my home town, Berlin. I have two jokers, one is smiling and the other crying. It means laugh now, cry later."

Supposing Kevin Prince Boateng's tackle on Michael Ballack was a premeditated one, then this "laugh now, cry later" belief will make sense. Ironically, it all happened in a space of 90 minutes.

Laugh now

Kevin Prince Boateng achieved delight by hitting Michael Ballack for two purposes.

Purpose Number 1: to take revenge on his long time foe. A statement recently made by Kevin's father explained an interesting old story:

“It upsets me a lot, but you have to look at the whole story. [In 2006] Kevin had just scored his first goal for Hertha [Berlin]. Then, they played against Bayern Munich. He had an argument with Ballack. Ballack told him: ‘You’ve scored one goal, now you think you are the best!’

“Kevin has never forgotten that. Unfortunately, Kevin is not very diplomatic.”

Purpose Number 2: to ease his country's chances at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Kevin certainly should have received his marching orders after his dreadful tackle on Michael Ballack. Instead, he only saw yellow. If Portsmouth had gone 10 man down after only 35 minutes, the team might have perhaps experienced a heavy whipping of goals.

Cry later

With Ballack out and the dynamic Boateng still in, Portsmouth had a great opportunity of causing an upset. THE moment came in the 56th minute of the game when Pompey were awarded a penalty following a challenge in the box by Brazil's Belleti on Ivory Coast's Dindane. Ghana's Kevin Prince stepped up to convert the spot kick and awfully kicked the ball for Chelsea's Petr Cech to produce an easy save. Kevin Prince Boateng had actually just blown his side's luck away.

From there, it looked like Portsmouth were never going to have a better chance than that to claim the FA Cup trophy at the expense of Chelsea. At the other end of the pitch, Didier Drogba scored a breathtaking long range free-kick to inflict the blues on Portsmouth and to seal Chelsea's FA Cup triumph.

In conclusion, Kevin Prince Boateng brought luck to Ghana and sorrow to Portsmouth during 90 minutes of FA Cup final football. But was that part of a misterious conspiracy or not?

Throughout the history of Ghanese football, there have been many great players and moments that have existed for the Black Stars.

But somehow, Ghana never were able to qualify for the World Cup as they always fell short.

But that all changed in 2006, as a terrific squad that contained the likes of Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah were able to qualify for their first World Cup out of Group Two in African qualification.

But in their first World Cup, Ghana found themselves in the Group of Death, as they had to face and beat Italy, the Czech Republic, and the United States to advance from Group E.

For the Black Stars, the ultimate test to advance from their group started off against Italy in Hannover against Italy, a match that Ghana lost 2-0 against the eventual World Cup champions.

After that first match, Ghana traveled down to Cologne to face a Czech Republic side that just defeated the United States 3-0 in their first match.

But Ghana played the Czech Republic tough throughout the entire match, and thanks to an early goal from Asamoah Gyan, and late goal from Sulley Muntari, Ghana beat the Czechs 2-0 to set up an epic final group stage match with the United States.

During the second match, the United States gave Italy their only result that was not a win in the 2006 World Cup, as they battled Italy to a 1-1 draw, despite only having nine players for a sizable portion of the match.

So in the final match at Kaiserslautern, the United States and Ghana were to battle each other, with the winner most likely going to advance and the loser going back home.

Early on, it was Ghana who were able to take control, and after a turnover from USA captain Claudio Reyna, Haminu Draman was able to beat American keeper Kasey Keller to give Ghana a 1-0 lead.

Two minutes before the half, DeMarcus Beasley was able to put together a perfect pass to a streaking Clint Dempsey, who deposited home the pass to tie the match 1-1.

It appeared that would be the score going into the half, but striker Razek Pimpong fell down quite easily against American defender Oguchi Onyewu and referee Markus Merk awarded Ghana the penalty.

On the ensuing penalty, Stephen Appiah scored in the top right corner to give Ghana a 2-1 lead.

In the second half, the United States decided to charge towards Ghana's goal to get the tying goal, but Ghana's defense remained resilient and were able to prevent the Americans to score another goal.

And with that, Ghana were able to fend off the USA for a 2-1 win to advance to the Round of 16 against Brazil.

Sadly for Ghana, they became the final African nation to be eliminated as Brazil won 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals.

But despite this, Ghana's 2-1 win over the United States is the greatest moment in Ghanese football history, but that could be subject to change in South Africa next month.