JOHANNESBURG — For a player with a history of disciplinary problems, Sulley Muntari is adapting well to being a reserve with Ghana at the World Cup.

The midfielder spent Ghana's opening 1-0 win over Serbia on Sunday sitting on the bench at Loftus Versveld after injuring his thigh in a warm-up match against the Netherlands.

Ghana next plays Australia in Rustenburg on Saturday. It as unclear whether Muntari would receive any playing time in the Group D match with Stephen Appiah having come on as a midfield substitute against the Serbs.

"It was good to see the guys play so well," Muntari said Tuesday. "It did not matter that I didn't play. The big thing was that we won. I'm now looking forward to helping the guys in our next match against Australia. I'm really looking forward to it."

Muntari wasn't always so happy to put the team first.

He was sent home from the 2004 Athens Olympics on the eve of Ghana's opening match after fighting with his federation, pledging to never again play for his country. Muntari later apologized and was eventually recalled.

However, he snubbed a friendly against Angola and was excluded from the 2010 African Cup of Nations in which Ghana finished runner-up to Egypt. Muntari had to apologize again to his nation and coach Milovan Rajevic before being selected for the World Cup.

Ghana will start as favourites against the Australians, who were routed 4-0 by Germany on Sunday. But the Ghanaian Football Association has warned its players against complacency.

"Our qualification is not sealed yet. We have to beat Australia, even that will not be enough until we overcome Germany as well and we have psyched up the players to understand the situation," GFA president Kwasi Nyantakyi told the Ghana News Agency. "We definitely have no cause to be complacent because Ghana is bent on winning the cup and nothing will stop us from achieving that target.

"The team has quality players who play in the topflight European leagues and compete with the Europeans on the same level."