World Cup : Group E (Czech Rep Ghana Italy & USA)

VHAMBLIDINHO · World Cup : Group E (Czech Rep Ghana Italy & USA)

Group E

Italy

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Ghana

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USA

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Czech Republic

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Totti to feature against Ghana - Lippi

Italy coach Marcello Lippi has confirmed that playmaker Francesco Totti will play in Monday's World Cup opener against Ghana.

Totti, who recently recovered from a serious leg injury, has shown a vast improvement during this week's training.

'I have evaluated Totti's form and I've seen him grow in confidence and fitness,' said Lippi.

'Totti will play against Ghana. I never doubted that he wouldn't recover having seen him improve in every training session. He may not play the whole game, though.'

Lippi admits he knows who will take to the pitch for the Group E clash, but will not announce it until just before the game.

'I have decided the starting XI,' he said. 'The players don't know it yet, I will tell them tomorrow morning.'

Lippi has emphasised the importance of winning the match for the morale of his players but believes his team are desperate to get their adventure under way.

'If we lose or draw the game against Ghana, it will be very difficult for us psychologically to prepare for our next game against the United States,' he said.

'Even if we win it's going to be complicated.

'We have seen all the World Cup games so far,' he added. 'We have seen the enormous balance there is in every game and we just want to get started.

'I am very calm, it could be because I see my players confident and ready to play.

'I am convinced that my team will play good football and give the fans a good show.

'I have heard that my rivals have said that they will reach the semi-finals and I wish them the best of luck.'

The Azzurri trained for one hour on Sunday evening at the AWD-Arena but Lippi gave away little regarding who will partner Luca Toni in Italy's attack against the Black Stars.

In-form Vincenzo Iaquinta and Alberto Gilardino are fighting for the spot, with Alessandro Del Piero set to be relegated to the bench.

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Ghana can progress from a testing FIFA World Cup™ group on the back of a midfield taken from Europe's top tier and a squad rejuvenated since the African Nations Cup, says coach Ratomir Dujkovic.

His injury-hit side tumbled out in the first round of the African finals in January but have been boosted by the return to fitness of midfielder Michael Essien.

"This is a different team," Serb Dujkovic told reporters on the eve of Monday's Group E tie with Italy. "We came to compete, not just to participate, and to get past the group stage," he said. "We believe we can do this because we have a very young, competitive and strong team."

Ghana also face 2002 quarter-finalists the United States and Czech Republic, ranked second in the world, in the group.

Nicknamed the Black Stars by their fans, Ghana also boast Udinese's Sulley Muntari in a midfield engine room run by Stephen Appiah, a Serie A winner with Juventus last year before moving to Turkey's Fenerbahce.

"There are a lot of teams who will have problems with us," said Dujkovic. "I am confident we can get past the group stage and if we have to meet Brazil, I am not worried. Brazil is Brazil but we are the Black Stars, they call us Brazil from Africa."

Essien courted controversy with a knee-high challenge on Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann last season and Dujkovic was asked if he was worried the Chelsea man might be a disciplinary concern.

He said: "We cannot change the style of how Essien plays. We will tell him to be careful with how he plays. But all the referees are top-level and we're not thinking about it much. We have to plan our game to play the best way."

A former Yugoslavia keeper, Dujkovic was Ghana's fourth coach in a turbulent qualifying campaign and was under pressure at the Nations Cup. "During the Nations Cup there was a lot of pressure from the media to sack me," he said.

"But when we won the next games, that changed. Everything depends on results. In this job you always have your bags packed."

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The Czech Republic started their Germany 2006 campaign in style with a 3-0 win over the USA in Gelsenkirchen on Monday.

Jan Koller gave the Czechs a dream start in the opening match in Group E by heading them in front after five minutes and Tomas Rosicky doubled their advantage with a superb swerving strike in nine minutes before the break.

Despite the setback of losing Koller to a hamstring injury, Karel Bruckner's men retained their grip on the game and Rosicky sealed the three points with his second goal on 76 minutes.

The US team displayed several nice combinations in midfield throughout the match, but they struggled to translate them into clear scoring opportunities.

Czech Republic, meanwhile, did not create a host of chances but they had the quality to capatilise on the ones they did make for themselves.

Things will not get easier for the States, as they will face Italy next in another difficult Group E clash, while the Czechs will play Ghana.

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Ghana's players too short

Ghana is the youngest team in the World Cup. It still could use a little more height.

Coach Ratomir Dujkovic is struggling to get his players to cope with tall European players ahead of Saturday's game against the Czechs. It needs to improve after Monday's 2-0 defeat by Italy.

"We will try and keep the ball on the ground," Dujkovic said.

He identified defender Emmanuel Pappoe's lack of height as the key problem against Italy.

"We had problems on the left with our short player. The Italians used a tall player against him and he passed him every time."

The 1.77m Pappoe was substituted at halftime.

The West African team, taking part in their first World Cup, do not have a player over 1.88m Matthew Amoah, Ghana's lead striker, is 1.75m, while captain Stephen Appiah is 1.78m.

Dujkovic blamed two defensive mistakes for the defeat by Italy - failure to mark Andrea Pirlo, who scored in the first half and defender Sammuel Kuffour's muffed clearance, which allowed Vincenzo Iaquinta to score Italy's opportunistic second.

The coach reported no injuries ahead of Saturday's game in Cologne and said he was working hard to restore confidence in goal scoring among the Black Stars, whose average age is 25.

"We are practicing shooting every day - I'm sure we'll play better and score goals against the Czech Republic. We can still qualify."

But he added he was wary of the skills of a Czech team ranked second to Brazil.

"The strongest part of the Czech team is the goalkeeper, the four defenders, four midfielders and two strikers. All the team is strong

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There's confusion in Germany with the Czech doctor claiming Milan Baros' World Cup is over but the press officer saying it is not.

Baros suffered a foot injury in the opening group game against the United States, and Czech Republic physio Karel Malis has revealed the striker will play no further part in the tournament and return to England for treatment on a torn tendon.

Malis confirmed: "The hope is gone, Baros is definitely lost and will go home.

"After four hours of examinations in Duisburg, we have brought terrible news to the camp."

However this medical synopsis has been refuted by the team's press officer Petr Krejci, and Aston Villa have been left in the dark by the internal bickering over their star striker's fitness.

"It is not true, Baros will stay with us and the treatment will continue," he said.

"We will take the decision on Monday after the game with Ghana."

It appears that the Czech team are willing to gamble on Baros' fitness in the knockout stages of the competition, and risk the wrath of Villa in the same way that Sven Goran Eriksson's management of Wayne Rooney's rehabilitation has angered the Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

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Italy moved a point clear at the top of Group E after drawing 1-1 with the USA in an incident-filled match in Kaiserslautern on Saturday.

Alberto Gilardino headed Italy into a 22nd-minute lead but their lead last only five minutes until Christian Zaccardo turned the ball into his own net.

That was the end of the scoring but a minute later the Azzurri lost Daniele De Rossi to the first of three red cards.

The USA's Pablo Mastroeni then saw red in the 45th minute and Eddie Pope followed suit two minutes into the second half.

The result left both sides in contention before their final games, with Italy top on four points and the USA bottom with one.

Italy ended the night top of a very tight Group E, one point ahead of Ghana and the Czech Republic, prior to next week's showdown with the Czechs.

The USA kept their hopes of qualification alive after playing almost the entire second half with one man less than the Italians.

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Finally one of the newcomers at this FIFA World Cup™ were able to celebrate a victory as Ghana made history by beating the Czech Republic 2-0 in Cologne on Saturday.

Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari scored the goals that gave Ghana their first win on the world stage at the expense of a Czech side who played the closing stages with ten men after Tomas Ujfalusi's dismissal.

Ghana's triumph is the first for any of the debutants at Germany 2006 and also the first for any of the five African finalists.

Their victory margin might have been greater had Gyan not struck a penalty against the post in the second half.

Gyan had earlier opened the scoring with a shot low past Petr Cech in the second minute before Sulley Muntari added the second with a shot high into the roof of the net seven minutes from time.

However, bookings here mean both scorers together with Tomas Lokvenc and the dismissed Ujfalusi will be suspended for their teams' next matches.

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Italy secured their qualification for the Round of 16 as Group E winners after beating the Czech Republic 2-0 in Hamburg on Thursday.

Marcello Lippi's side will face the second-placed team from Group F in Kaiserslautern on 26 June.

The Czechs, who head home early after finishing third in the group, played the whole second half with ten men after the dismissal of Jan Polak moments before the break following a second yellow card.

Marco Materazzi, an early replacement for the injured Alessandro Nesta, put the Azzurri on course for victory when he headed past Petr Cech in the 26th minute and his fellow substitute Filippo Inzaghi sealed the three points three minutes from the end.

The Czech Republic gave it a real go but Italy's first goal helped Lippi's men take command of the game and the longer it went the less likely it appeared that the Czechs would save themselves.

Inzaghi's strike ended the contest and left Italy looking forward to the next round while their opponents bow out.

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Ghana's 2-1 victory over the USA in Nuremberg booked their place in the Round of 16 and left Bruce Arena's men facing an earlier than expected flight home from the FIFA World Cup™ finals.

The Africans took the lead in the 22nd minute when Haminu Draman robbed Claudio Reyna of possession on the edge of the area and cooly slotted the ball past Kasey Keller.

Clint Dempsey's powerful finish two minutes before half-time gave the US hope of winning the match, but they were soon behind again through Stephen Appiah's penalty, scored in the second minute of added time at the end of the first half.

Try as they might after the interval, the US could not find a way past a stubborn Ghana rearguard and leave the tournament after claiming just one point from their three group games.

For Ratomir Dujkovic's Black Stars, however, a match with the winners of Group F in Dortmund awaits.

As was the case in every game they played at Germany 2006, the US conceded the game's first goal.

Although they managed to equalise as they did against Italy, the scoreline did not stay level for long, and they just did not have the firepower to overturn another deficit.