Ghana are hoping to keep ahead of South Africa, and virtually seal a place at next years World Cup Finals with a win over Group 2 rivals Uganda, in Kumasi on Saturday. Ghana initially were a team that was seeded fourth in this group, but have now become favourites to qualify.

For Ghana, newly signed Chelsea FC midfielder Michael Essien, whose transfer to the English Premiership champions Chelsea from French League team Lyon made headline news, not only for the drawn-out agreement, but for the massive transfer fee of £28m (€42m), is likely to start, with Daniel Udusei, and Captain Stephen Appiah in midfield for Ghana's "Black Stars". Striker Matthew Amoah, who currently plays team football in the Netherlands with Vitesse Arnhem, is expected to lead the attack.

The "Black Stars" team, apparently "hardened" by Serbian coach Ratomir Dujkovic's training methods, have only been defeated once, by Burkina Faso, in their first game of the campaign, and have shown huge advances in recent years.

South Africa and Ghana are both equal on 15 points at the top of Group 2. The difference being, Ghana have scored 11 goals, and conceded just 4, whereas the South Africans have an even goal tally of 9. With such a difference, this will mean that if Ghana win their match, they will have their own fate in their hands, with a win against the Cape Verde Islands on the 7th October, to guarantee them a place in next years finals.

South Africa did manage to clinch a place in the 2002 World Cup Finals in Korea/Japan by drawing in Burkina Faso, but the team, currently on a low-ebb, desperately need a victory in Ouagadougou to stay in the running for the top-spot, against opponents who have managed to beat both Ghana and the DR Congo at home.

Their last International tournament was this Summer, when the SA team participated in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and although they beat Mexico, in what was for Mexico was a meaningless match because they had already qualified, the "Bafana Bafana" only managed draws of 1-1, and 3-3 with CONCACAF Zone minnows Guatemala and Jamaica respectively to receive an early exit from the tournament.

For Ghana to qualify from Group 2 tomorrow, they need to beat Uganda in Kumasi, and have South Africa fail to win against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou, and then for the DR Congo to fail to beat the Cape Verde Islands in Kinshasa.

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