Familiar look to Ghanaian midfield

admin

In a tough looking group, with Germany and Australia making up the rest of the pool, both sides will be keen to get off to a winning start at the Loftus Versefeld Stadium.

This is Ghana’s second World Cup finals following their debut in Germany four years ago, while for Serbia it is the first finals as a single nation.

Ghana are coached by Serbian boss Milovan Rajevic, but he insists there will be no divided loyalties on Sunday.

Ghana lost their most influential player prior to the finals when Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.

Inter Milan star Sulley Muntari has handed Ghana a boost after recovering from a thigh problem which forced him to miss his side’s final warm-up game.

Stephen Appiah will captain the Black Stars, while Fulham defender John Pantsil will start in defence.

Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng could start in midfield after pledging his international allegiance to the Africans ahead of Germany.

Serbia expect Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic to be fit after illness ruled him out of the recent friendlies against Poland and Cameroon.

Serbia coach Radomir Antic has no other injury worries to contend with as they look to get off to a flying start in South Africa.

Birmingham new boy Nikola Zigic is expected to lead the attack, while highly-rated duo Milos Krasic and Milan Jovanovic will provide the ammunition from the wings.