The Ghana National Soccer Team
Although they did not make their first FIFA World Cup appearance until 2006, Ghana has a long history of dominating in African soccer. They won their third African Cup of Nations title in 1978 and were given the original trophy, named the Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem Trophy, to keep forever. Overall, they are a four time winner and four time runner up in the African Cup of Nations Tournament.
Back in 2006, Ghana was the youngest team to take the pitch during the World Cup with an average player age of 23. Although they eventually were knocked out of the tournament in the second round by Brazil, the impressive wins they scored in the first round over the USA and the Czech Republic garnered them great attention.
The squad likely to head out to Johannesburg are, on average, a little older now, and feature a number of players who are stars in the big leagues, including Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien and former MLS striker Junior Agogo, the latter of whom is the team’s leading goalscorer.
Locally, the Ghana national team is known as the Black Stars and is currently managed by Milovan Rajevac, a former Serbian professional soccer star. He was only appointed in 2008 after Frenchman Claude LeRoy quit the post, even though under his tutelage the squad achieved their highest FIFA ranking ever – 14th – in February of 2008.
Their all-time leading goalscorer is Abedi Pele with 33 goals in 73 appearances, and he is also their all-time “cap” leader for most appearances in international competitions.