1) They will become the first African nation to reach the semifinals of a World Cup. Cameroon became the first African World Cup contenders to go as far as the quarter-finals of the tournament. That was all the way back in 1990 when they topped Romania, Argentina, and the Soviet Union in their group to go past Colombia in the Round of 16 before losing out to England in a dramatic quarter-final clash. Senegal emulated Cameroon’s feat in 2002 but couldn’t do better as they lost out 1-0 to Turkey in the Last 8. So Ghana are the third African team to reach that same stage. Any change of fortune this time?

2) They will be the youngest side in the 2010 FIFA World Cup to progress into the semifinals of the competition. There are no teams younger than Milovan Rajevac’s Black Stars in South Africa actually. The average age of the Ghanaians is of 24.1 years old. They top Germany (25.0), Spain (25.9), Chile (25.9), Uruguay (26.7), Mexico (27.1), Argentina (27.1), and all the rest of the teams that made it not only into the Last 16 of the 2010 World Cup but also into the tournament as whole.

3) They will become the first African team at the 2010 World Cup to win a match at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. Among the six encounters that have been played at that venue so far, three have involved African contenders. It was at the Soccer City Stadium that South Africa were held 1-1 by Mexico. Cote d’Ivoire also went down 3-1 there before Ghana themselves lost 1-0 to Germany in the first round.

4) They will be Africa’s highest scoring team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Algeria exited from the tournament with a goalless record following a 0-0 draw against England in between two 1-0 defeats to Slovenia and the USA. Cameroon are second in the standings after having scored two goals – both coming from captain Samuel Eto’o. Meanwhile, South Africa and Nigeria netted three times. At the moment, Ghana share their tally of four goals with Cote d’Ivoire – who beat Korea DPR 3-0 on Match-day Three. But as it takes at least one goal to claim a victory in football, Ghana will logically set a new record in the goal scoring charts if they indeed defeat Uruguay.

5) They will be the first and only 2010 World Cup participants to clinch victory over the Uruguayans. France drew 0-0 against La Celeste Olimpica on Match-day One whereas South Africa fell to a thumping 3-0 loss. Mexico got defeated 1-0 in the last round of group matches against the Uruguayans who knocked out South Korea 2-1 to set a date with Ghana on Friday.