Rajevac: I'm very proud

Milovan Rajevac has hailed his Ghana players after their dramatic defeat by Uruguay on penalties in their 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ quarter-final.

With the scores at 1-1 in the last moments of extra time, Dominic Adiyiah's header was stopped on the goal-line by the hand of La Celeste forward Luiz Suarez, who was consequently sent off. However, Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting spot-kick before the Black Stars lost 4-2 in the shoot-out.

Tears across the continent

There were tears on the pitch. There were tears in the stands. There were tears all across Africa as the continent's lone standard-bearers crashed out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Asamoah Gyan, so often the hero for the Black Stars of Ghana, cried hardest, chest heaving as his team-mates took turns holding him up. His miss from the spot in the final second of extra time forced a shoot-out in which the Ghanaians came up second best.

Outside the stadium – that magnificent, hulking monument to African football that is Soccer City – there were more arms outstretched to Gyan and his Black Stars. "We still love them, we still love Gyan and all of our boys," said Apeni, from Ghana, still

Video Uruguay 1-1 Ghana (Penalty 4-2) (World Cup 2010 - 1/4 Final)

2010.07.02 (19h30) - Uruguay 1-1 Ghana (Penalty 4-2) (World Cup 2010 - 1/4 Final)

Daniel Agyei, a Ghanaian barricade

Daniel Agyei has already graduated swiftly from youth level to emerge as Ghana’s new second-choice goalkeeper. Two caps at either end of the 2010 CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals have allowed the 20-year-old to emerge as the future between the sticks for the Black Stars, particularly as first choice Richard Kingson is likely to call it quits after the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ finals in South Africa.

Inkoom, a young influence

Samuel Inkoom is one of several players who have made a successful transition from Ghana’s U-20 world champion team to the ranks of the senior Black Stars. The Swiss-based defender played every match for Ghana at the recent CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals in Angola, where they surprised by reaching the final and pushing defending champions Egypt in a tight deciding game in Luanda before finishing as runners-up. Inkoom stepped in to showcase his talent in an injury hit side, proving a strong force in defence, mostly at full-back.

Team Squad List 2010 - Ghana

Nr.	Name	Date of Birth	Position	Clubs	Height
1	Daniel AGYEI	10/11/1989	GK	Liberty (GHA)	186
2	Hans SARPEI	28/06/1976	DF	Bayer Leverkusen (GER)	178
3	Asamoah GYAN	22/11/1985	FW	Rennes (FRA)	186
4	John PANTSIL	15/06/1981	DF	Fulham (ENG)	178
5	John MENSAH	29/11/1982	DF	Sunderland (ENG)	177
6	Anthony ANNAN	21/07/1986	MF	Rosenborg (NOR)	171
7	Samuel INKOOM	01/06/1989	DF	Basel (SUI)	179
8	Jonathan MENSAH	13/07/1990	DF	Free State Stars (RSA)	182
9	Derek BOATENG	02/05/1983	MF	Getafe (ESP)	185
10	Stephen APPIAH	24/12/1980	MF	Bologna (ITA)	178
11	Sulley MUNTARI	27/08/1984	MF	Inter (ITA)	180
12	Prince TAGOE	09/11/1986	FW	Hoffenheim (GER)	179
13	Andre AYEW	17/12/1989	MF	Arles (FRA)	175
14	Matthew AMOAH	24/10/1980	FW	NAC Breda (NED)	175
15	Isaac VORSAH	21/06/1988	DF	Hoffenheim (GER)	180
16	Stephen AHORLU	05/09/1988	GK	Heart of Lions (GHA)	179
17	Ibrahim AYEW	16/04/1988	DF	Zamalek (EGY)	176
18	Dominic ADIYIAH	29/11/1989	FW	AC Milan (ITA)	170
19	Lee ADDY	07/07/1990	DF	Bechem Chelsea (GHA)	178
20	Quincy OWUSU-ABEYIE	15/04/1986	FW	Al Sadd (QAT)	180
21	Kwadwo ASAMOAH	09/12/1988	MF	Udinese (ITA)	168
22	Richard KINGSON	13/06/1978	GK	Wigan (ENG)	182
23	Kevin Prince BOATENG	06/03/1987	FW	Portsmouth (ENG)	182

Coach: Milovan RAJEVAC (SRB)

Coach 2010 - Ghana

• Name: Milovan RAJEVAC
• Country: Serbia
• Date of Birth: 2 January 1954

Coaching Career

• Ghana (GHA) : From 2008 to 2010
• Borac Cacak (SRB) : From 2008 to 2008
• Vojvodina (SRB) : From 2006 to 2007
• Crvena Zvezda (SRB) : From 2004 to 2004

Playing Career

• Sloboda Uzice  (SRB) : From 1985 to 1986
• Borac Cacak (SRB) : From 1982 to 1984
• Vojvodina (SRB) : From 1979 to 1980
• Crvena Zvezda (SRB) : From 1978 to 1979
• Borac Cacak (SRB) : From 1975 to 1978

Milovan Rajevac did not have a large international profile before taking over as coach of Ghana in 2008, but inside the world of football, he already had a reputation as a coach of much potential. His work inside of Serbia and elsewhere in Europe and Asia, and the experience picked up alongside the likes of Bora Milutinovic, Ljubko Petrovic and Milovan Djoric, stood him in good stead leading the team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. And the confidence in Rajevac will be fully realised as he takes Ghana’s Black Stars to Africa‘s first finals.

As a player, he was a defender at Red Star Belgrade, capped by the former Yugoslavia and in the squad that reached the 1979 UEFA Cup final. But as coach he has had to earn his spurs at more provincial destinations, even though he was taken on to the coaching staff at Red Star when he first hung up his playing boots. Qualifying two unheralded Serbian clubs, FC Vojvodina and FK Borak, to the UEFA Cup were the achievements that earned him the notoriety to seek a national team job and when Ghana were looking for a replacement for Claude le Roy before the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, Rajevac proved their choice, even though the public had never heard of him before and were somewhat sceptical. Rajevac signed a two-year contract and immediately set about taking the Black Stars to their second successive FIFA World Cup finals appearance. Ghana had some tough games in their first round group but were surprisingly ruthless against much tougher opposition in their final group phase, thereby enhancing the reputation of the 56-year-old coach.

The Black Stars were the first of the African sides to get through the preliminaries and then went on to further verify their credentials by finishing second at the 2010 CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Angola in January. Reaching the final was an achievement that Rajevac can take the lion’s share of credit for, after he was handed a squad beset by injuries and without most of his key players. Ghana’s squad was largely inexperienced and Rajevac had to dip into the reservoir of talent that had won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt last October. He freely admits he now faces a pleasant selection headache ahead of the FIFA 2010 World Cup.

Rajevac, who has a quiet but steely air and still uses an interpreter to address press conferences, started as a coach at his home club FC Borak in 1989, then went to Sweden (FC Srbija), back to Serbia (FC Sloboda), then to Germany and onto China (Beijing Guoan FC). In 2004, he was an assistant to FIFA World Cup veteran Milutinovic at Al Saad in Qatar before going on his own at Vojvodina. When the club from Novi Sad finished an unexpected third in the Serbia Super League in 2007, Rajevac was named best coach by his contemporaries and the sporting press. He was born in Uzice in the west of Serbia but is now regarded by Ghanaians as one of their own.

Team Profile 2010 - Ghana

Profile

The only African side to get out of the group stage at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ and the first to qualify for South Africa 2010, Ghana are anxious to prove themselves as the cream of the continent. Though this will be only their second appearance at the finals, the Black Stars have enjoyed considerable success at all levels of international football. They have won four CAF African Cup of Nations titles, though none since 1982, as well as two FIFA U-17 World Cups, and they became the first African team to lift the FIFA U-20 World Cup when they beat Brazil on penalties in October 2009. With added experience since their 2006 adventure, where they lost to Italy and Brazil but beat the Czech Republic and USA, Ghana are set to be a major threat at Africa's first FIFA World Cup.

Ghana national football team-Custom

Ghana

Nickname(s)	The Black Stars
Association	Ghana Football Association
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Milovan Rajevac[1]
Captain	Stephen Appiah
Most caps	Abédi Pelé (73)[2]
Top scorer	Abedi Pele (33)
Home stadium	Ohene Djan Sports Stadium
FIFA code	GHA
FIFA ranking	32

Ghana national football team

The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association. Before gaining independence from Great Britain in 1957, the country played as the Gold Coast.
Although the team did not qualify for the senior FIFA World Cup until 2006, they had qualified for five straight Olympic Games Football Tournaments when the tournament was still a full senior national team competition. The team have won the Africa Cup of Nations four times^[8] (in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982), making Ghana the second most successful team in the contest's history, behind Egypt. The Olympic Team,^[7] the Black Meteors, in 1992 became the first African country to win a medal at football.
After going through 2005 unbeaten, Ghana won the FIFA most improved team of the year award [1] and they reached the second round of the 2006 Germany World Cup.