ACCRA (Ghana), May 7: After four African Cup of Nations titles and decades of trying to qualify for the World Cup, Ghana have finally made it to the big one. Ghana, one of four African teams that would make their debut at the World Cup in Germany next month, took advantage of South Africa?s poor showing in qualifying to make it to soccer?s biggest event. Now, of course, the goal is to continue to win.

?There is a lot of determination from the boys and the technical team to see this dream realised,? Ghana team spokesman Mr Randy Abbey said.

The Black Stars, 50th in Fifa?s rankings, play in a tough group, however. They open against Italy, then follow with matches against the Czech Republic and the USA.

Mr Abbey said Ghana plan to just ?take things one after the other,? and noted that the team are lining up bonuses and other incentives to push the players toward victory. Still, some fans in Ghana are hoping for big surprises.

?In every soccer tournament there are uncertainties and so there will be in Germany,? said Mr Richard Avornyotse, a sports columnist for a number of local papers.

?Ghana are considered the underdogs in our group, but we can draw from history and cause upsets, as Cameroon and Senegal have done before.?

Cameroon opened the 1990 tournament with a victory over defending champions Argentina, and then went on to become the first African nation to reach the quarter-finals. Senegal did the same thing in 2002, beating defending champions France in the tournament?s first match and then reaching the last eight.

?Our weakest point is how to convert scoring opportunities and I hope we can improve on this. We can upset the Italians in the opening match,? Mr Avornyotse said.

The Black Stars are likely to go to Germany without one of their key players ~ striker Isaac Boakye. The Arminia Bielefeld forward re-injured his knee last week and said he may have to undergo surgery.

Still, the team would depend heavily on Chelsea defender Michael Essien and captain Stephen Appiah.

Ghana?s defence been strong in qualifying, however, conceding only four goals in 12 games. The team are coached by Mr Ratomir Dujkovic, a Serbian who took Rwanda to their first African Cup in 2004.