After all the planning and organising over the past three years, the time to perform has finally arrived for the west African state with the whole nation expecting nothing less than a place in the final on February 10.

There will be more than 40,000 spectators crammed into the Ohene Djan Stadium in the capital by the time the Black Stars take to the field, with more than 23 million cheering on from the rest of the country.

"We know that we are in a very difficult group (which also includes Namibia and Morocco), but the atmosphere is fantastic," said Ghana coach Claude Le Roy.

"Ghana have not been African champions since 1982. We face unbelievable expectations."

The four-time champions were dealt a huge blow three weeks ago when inspirational captain Stephen Appiah was ruled out of the tournament, so Chelsea's Michael Essien, Portsmouth's Sulley Muntari and Udinese's Asamoah Gyan will be called upon to influence the team.

Defender John Mensah has been given the captaincy in Appiah's absence and the Rennes defender admits losing their leader was initially difficult to accept.

"First, we felt very sad but at the moment everybody is fine," he said. "Appiah has been calling and giving us motivation which has boosted our morale and confidence.

"We have also prepared well and are very positive that we will win against Guinea."

Ghana have an excellent record in the tournament, winning four out of a record seven finals in which they have appeared, but their last final was 16 years ago.

One advantage is the exceptionally good record of hosts - the home team have triumphed on 10 occasions and only ever failed to reach the semi-finals three times - and they have already been installed as pre-tournament favourites.

Guinea, on the other hand, will be hoping to spoil the party but their coach Robert Nouzaret knows it will not be easy.

"We are sure of the quality of Ghana's team but we will not have come here if we were unsure of our chances," he said. "Ghana are ahead and their quality is pure.

"We do not worry about stage-fright because we are also aware that that could favour us and put pressure on our opponents."

The Guineans' best performance in the competition was in 1976 when they finished runners-up to Morocco and they are widely tipped to be dark horses again this time round.

Guinea are expected to start with Ismael Bangoura and captain Pascal Feindouno in attack and, like their opponents, have a fully-fit squad at their disposal.

Sunday's game is the start of a busy week with three games scheduled for Monday. Namibia take on Morocco in Group A and in Group B, Ivory Coast face Nigeria and Mali play Benin.