Ghana’s coach, Ratomir Dujkovic, thinks they could stop Brazil from their way to the World Cup final.

Whatever hopes Dujkovic and his players are harbouring will need to be realised without influential midfielder Michael Essien – suspended for the match after picking up a second yellow card in the final first-round game against the USA.

“Of course Essien is an important player for us and it will be difficult to find a replacement,” Dujkovic said of the Chelsea star. “But we have the talent on the bench to cover for him in his absence. We will be at around 80 per cent of our usual strength without him.”

As the lone remaining African side in Germany, Dujkovic is keen to fly the flag proudly and keep alive the proud tradition established by Cameroon, Nigeria and most recently Senegal, at the finals.

With his final remarks, Dujkovic laid out an attacking battle plan for the match in Dortmund, one befitting a team nicknamed the ‘Brazilians of Africa’. “The Black Stars always play to win,” he said. “We will not come out onto the field to defend, we wouldn’t even know how to approach a game that way.

“If you defend against Brazil, you will still concede one or two goals and lose anyway. We will try to score as often as we can.” When asked to be more specific about his plan, Dujkovic said bluntly: “We need to score more goals than them, of course!”

Will Ghana miss Essien? Surely. The question is… how much?

Source: WCoffsite