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Ghana coach plots demise of his homeland

"This is a very, very difficult situation for me but I'm a professional and I will concentrate on the game," Rajevac said in a media conference on Saturday.

Rajevac will go go head-to-head with friend and compatriot Radomir Antic who is coaching Serbia in their maiden appearance as an independent nation.

"Radomir Antic is a very experienced coach ... He's also my friend and of-course this will remain after the game," Rajevac said.

"But during the game we will try to work the best for our own team. I've been living with my team for two years and managed to reach the World Cup and we will do our best here."

"In the first game you never know what's going to happen, it all depends on who manages to impose themselves on the other, that's who will win," he added.

"Michael is not with us and that's truly a great handicap for us, and for the World Cup as well. It's a shame he's not with us, for sure we would have been much stronger."

Ghana captain Stephen Appiah agreed Essien's loss would be difficult to overcome but could hardly contain his excitement at playing in the first World Cup on African soil.

"Africans are watching, Africans are hoping that one of their teams will go far. I think it's a big challenge for us but we have our destiny in our own hands, he added. "It's going to be an historic World Cup."