The Cajetina-born 56-year-old played for and managed a number of clubs in his native country down the years, including Red Star Belgrade, while as a defender he also represented Yugoslavia.

He is also friends with veteran coach Radomir Antic, the man he will pit his wits against tomorrow when Ghana face Serbia at the Loftus Versfeld stadium.

Regardless of all that though, Rajevac insists there will be no split loyalties for him against Serbia as he seeks to help Ghana enjoy a winning start to what will be their second appearance at the World Cup finals.

He said: "For the first match of the World Cup my role is unusual because we will be playing against my country and I'm the coach of Ghana.

"This is a very difficult situation for me but I'm a professional and I will concentrate on the game," added Rajevac, who took charge of Ghana in 2008 after succeeding Frenchman Claude Le Roy.

"We all know everything about each other, so we'll see (what happens) tomorrow."

Rajevac is the second Serbian coach to face his birth nation and he will be hoping to do better than the first - Blagoje Vidinic, whose Zaire side were thumped 9-0 by Yugoslavia back in 1974.

If the Black Stars are to enjoy a winning start to the 2010 World Cup though, then Rajevac will need to put one over 61-year-old Antic, a coach who has managed the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid during a lengthy managerial career.

Rajevac explained: "Radomir Antic is a very experienced coach, he worked for Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, he won two cups with Atletico.

"He's also my friend and of course this will remain after the game, but during the game we will try to do the best for our teams.

"I've been living with my team for two years, we've reached the World Cup and we will try to do our best here."

Regarding his expectations for their opening fixture, Rajevac said: "You never know with the first game. We are the youngest team, so for sure this will be a very interesting game.

"It all comes down to who will impose their game on the other side, whoever does that will win."

mfl