Has Africa's Brazil come of age?

Ghana aim to give their long-suffering fans something to smile about when they make their World Cup debut after a 44-year wait to play in the finals.

One of Africa's most powerful footballing nations, the "Black Stars" have won the Nations Cup four times, while their clubs and teams have dominated continental and junior international competitions.

Yet despite such an enviable track record and the presence of such stars like Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah, the "Brazil of Africa" failed to reach a World Cup until this year.

A disunited dressing-room has been blamed for the country's previous failures.

"They had good players, like now, but the problem was that they were not united. Abedi Pele was with his group, Yeboah had his group," said Russia-based midfielder Laryea Kingston.

"Now most of this team has graduated from the youth level, we know each other from then. We are all doing the same things we did when we were younger."

Serbian coach Ratomir Dujkovic has been widely credited with the west African nation's passage to Germany 2006.

The astute coach has got his mainly Europe-based stars to play as a team and "Doya" has done that on his own terms.

So much so that he kept out top star Sammy Kuffour after a well-documented row and recalled the experienced defender only after he apologised.

The often-broke Ghana Football Association also received proper funding through several lucrative sponsorship contracts and this allowed them to call up their best players scattered across Europe.

Goalkeeper Sammy Adjei, defenders John Mensah and John Pantsil as well as midfielder Michael Essien have graduated from the team that lost to hosts Argentina in the 2001 Fifa World Championship to establish themselves at full international level.

Chelsea star Essien and Sulley Ali Muntari missed the African Nations Cup in Egypt through injury and this told on the team's performance as they failed to make it past the group stage of the tournament.

However, they will reunite in Germany along with Appiah to form one of the most complete midfield combinations, which provided ten of the 17 goals the team scored in qualification. The team's biggest drawback is still the lack of a proven goal scorer.

Along with midfielder Appiah, injury-troubled Matthew Amoah and Asamoah Gyan were the team's leading scorers on the road to Germany with three goals apiece. Joetex Frimpong, who has rattled in goals for Nigerian champions in the Caf Champions League in the last three years, failed to find the back of the net at the Nations Cup. Germany-based Isaac Boakye is doubtful for the World Cup after suffering a knee injury. Ghana are drawn against Italy, the US and Czech Republic in the first round.

Stephen Appiah

Ghana captain Stephen Appiah is the engine room of his side and the pivot around whom the team operates.

Ably assisted by lieutenants Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari, Appiah, a hugely experienced 25-year -old, emerged as one of the most influential players in Africa's World Cup qualifying campaign to lead Ghana to a first World Cup finals appearance.

He could also emerge as one of the best players in the finals, depending on how Ghana cope with their first-round opponents from the Czech Republic, the United States and Italy.

It helps that he has plenty of knowledge about the Italians, being a former Serie A "scudetto" winner with Juventus.

Appiah has been an international since his 16th birthday and his appearance in the World Cup comes after having represented Ghana at past world Under-17 and Under-20 championships.

He was the youngest member of the side that won the world Under-17 championship in Ecuador in 1995.

Within three years he had made his Serie A debut for Udinese and after several seasons of acclimatisation reaped an $8 million (R54 million) transfer fee for the club when Parma signed him in 2000. He joined Juventus three years later and, in his second season, helped the club to win the title, playing 18 times and joining a small band of Africans who have won Italian football's top prize.

Now at Fenerbahce in Turkey, Appiah came close to another title, although in the end his team just failed to catch Galatasaray in the race for the title.

Such is his importance to the club that officials begged Ghana to allow him to continue playing for them up until the start of the Nations Cup finals in Egypt on January 20.

This necessitated trips between Turkey and Ghana's pre-tournament base in Tunisia.

His influence in Ghana's outfit was highlighted at the recent Nations Cup where he played despite a strapped ankle in a vain effort to help the injury-plagued Black Stars get past the first round