Ghana assistant coach James Appiah is expecting to surprise Pim Verbeek's Socceroos, who he believes may be underestimating his side.

Not much has been said about the Black Stars in the lead-up to Friday night's friendly at the Sydney Football Stadium, with more emphasis placed on who and how the Socceroos will line up ahead of June's four crucial World Cup qualifiers.

But Ghana are ranked 14th in the world - compared to Australia's 43rd - and are the No.1 team in Africa.

Ghana will be without two of their most influential players in Chelsea's Michael Essien and Portsmouth's Sulley Muntari but Appiah said the team had so much talent some players might even outshine the regular star duo.

Essien was involved in Chelsea's penalty shootout loss to Manchester United in the Champions League final in Moscow, while flamboyant midfielder Muntari was advised not to travel so soon after being involved in the FA Cup final win over Cardiff last Saturday at Wembley.

"We might surprise everyone here because we've got very good players who I don't think the Australians know very well," Appiah said.

"I think there are some very talented players who might even play better than Essien or Muntari.

"I think maybe they are underestimating us as well because they are at home."

Appiah singled out striker Emmanuel Agyemang Badu as a player to look out for.

"We've got one very young player - Agyemang Badu - who is coming up very fast and he is one of the talents that might surprise everyone," he said.

While not quite as confident as his colleague, Ghana coach Sellas Tetteh said the match was "highly important" because his side were also preparing for a World Cup qualifier on June 1, against Libya.

Tetteh was hopeful 28-year-old Nottingham Forest striker Junior Agogo would continue the form he showed in spearheading Ghana to the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations in January and February, scoring three goals.

"He is highly important because he was a superstar in our last tournament," Tetteh said of Agogo.

"He has been living and playing in London for a pretty long time and he came down to play for Ghana and he was so good. He was a model for everybody so we hope he can continue to do that for us."

The team will also feature Lucas Neill's West Ham team-mate John Paintsil and Jason Culina's fellow PSV Eindhoven player Eric Addo.

Ghana: Goalkeepers: George Owu (Al Masry/EGY), William Amamoo (Vasalund/SWE)

Defenders: John Paintsil (West Ham/ENG), John Mensah (Rennes/FRA), Harrison Afful (Asante Kotoko/GHA), Eric Addo (PSV Eindhoven/NED), David Addy (All stars/GHA), Francis Dickoh (FC Utrecht/NED)

Midfielders: Anthony Annan (IK Start/NOR), Haminu Draman (Locomotiv Moscow/RUS), Laryea Kingston (Hearts/SCO), Prince Buaben (Dundee Utd/SCO), Derek Asamoah (OGC Nice/FRA)

Forwards: Junior Agogo (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Emmanuel Agyemang Badu (Berekum Arsenals/GHA).