Test your football knowledge in our World Cup Quiz

Brazil v Ghana Match Preview: Black Stars & Chelsea's Essien Suspended, Robinho Out For Seleçao, Ronaldinho May Partner Ronaldo

Submitted by Scott Harkness on Tue, 27/06/2006 - 14:21.

Brazil’s Seleçao face Ghana’s Black Stars in Dortmund on Tuesday in the second, knockout round of the World Cup Finals, with the winner to face either Spain or France in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Brazil head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will be without Robinho, who misses the match through injury, but otherwise he has a full squad to select from.

Even though Parreira hasn’t made any confirmation of the squad to face Ghana, recent reports indicate that he may play World Footballer of the Year Ronaldinho partnering Ronaldo up-front for the Seleçao.

Parreira, who started his coaching career in Ghana in the 1960s, has already expressed his concern at the physical nature of the Ghanaian game.

It is an accusation that brought a swift response from Ghana head coach Ratomir Dujkovic, the Serbian manager who has guided his team to their first World Cup Finals ridiculed the claims saying: ”I tell you this, my team will try and win the ball, but never, ever go out to foul someone and deliberately injure them. That is the difference between my team and some other countries in this competition.”

The Black Stars will be without Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who is suspended for the match, but Ghana will have both Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Gyan - who both scored against the Czech Republic – available after being suspended for the USA match.

Ghana's Razak Pimpong should start after bruising his ribs against the U.S.

The Black Stars have got further in the tournament than they could have dreamed, but that doesn’t mean that they will be overawed playing the World Champions and want to be the first African team to beat Brazil in the Finals, with no other African nation ever having scored against them.

“Nothing is impossible,” said Sulley Muntari. “Brazil have world-class players but football is a game of chance. On any given day, anyone can be beaten.”

Dujkovic is trying to instil a total lack of fear in his team for the match, saying: “The thing we must not do is be intimidated by those yellow shirts. My players cannot afford to be standing on the pitch looking at their idols and wondering how they are playing. They have to try and stop them.”

“It's very difficult to stop them. If you stop Ronaldhino, there is Ronaldo. If you stop Ronaldo there is Roberto Carlos. If you stop (him) there is Cafu so it will be very difficult, very tough.

“They have excellent individuality. But as a team they are not playing so well as before.”