"We expect this to be a very difficult match," he told a news conference at Soccer City on Thursday.
Uruguay, twice World Cup winners, are bidding for a place in the last four for the first time in 40 years.
"In World Cup matches, as one progresses, the teams are increasingly even. Ghana are very strong, very fast players with good dribbling when they run with the ball. We know it will very difficult," Tabarez said.
"We won't wait for Ghana to score a goal before we start to play the way we should be," Tabarez said. "We have great respect for our opponents but our ambition is to be in the semi-final.
"We won't become complacent, that would be suicidal. All the matches are final matches. And you have to score goals."
"If I think about, I become overwhelmed. I don't want to think about it. We must not lose concentration. We have to focus on tomorrow and the present and we can think about history later," said the coach known as The Master.
However, pushed again by a Brazilian journalist, he gently scolded: "Let's not talk about Maracana. It's history."
He was referring to 1950, when Uruguay beat an extremely confident Brazil team in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium to be crowned champions.
Uruguay's strength has been based on in-form strikers Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez and a robust defence marshalled by Diego Lugano, which has given away only one goal in four games.
"The most important present you can give a child, like at Christmas, is a soccer ball, even if it is made of rubber or cloth," he said. "Parties, celebrations...let's hope we can have some tomorrow."
