From William Ezah, GNA Special Correspondent, Pretoria, South Africa

Pretoria, South Africa, June 15, GNA - Ex-national star Ransford Banini has advised the Black Stars to shun complacency ahead of their clash with the Socceroos of Australia in order not to pay dearly for it.

The Stars will lock horns with the Socceroos in the second fixture of the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup, on Saturday, June 19 in Rustenburg. Australia got off their campaign with a 0-4 loss to Germany but Banini, a member of the national under-20 team, Black Satellites that clinched silver at the FIFA U-20 Championship held in Australia, 1993 insists the Aussies will be no pushovers.

Banini, who has been living in Australia for close to two decades, told Aussies against the Germans, adding, they will come all out.

"I know much about the Australian team. The fact that they lost against Germany does not make them easy to beat.

"I think it will be a very hard game for Ghana because they would want to revitalise their ambitions."

Banini added that the unavailability of star player Tim Cahill due to his suspension, will be a major blow to the Australians, but "they have got some really good players to fill the vacuum."

"The whole team play for each other and their work rate is really good."

The former Obuasi Goldfields defender noted that the Germans are favourites in the group to qualify, but the Stars victory over Serbia also puts them in pole position to reach the next stage of the competition. He commended the team for their excellent performance against Serbia, citing the team's thirst for success as the driving force.

Banini was also in the Black Satellites squad that won gold at the African Youth Championship held in Mauritius in 1993.

After leading the Satellites to silver at the World tournament later in the same year, he left Goldfields, now Ashogld to pursue his career in Australia.

Whilst in Australia, he laced his boots for Marconi SC, Melbourne Zebras and Melbourne Knights, where he hanged up his boots. The 37-year old is currently pursuing a coaching course at his Australia base. 15 June 10