Certainly there is no questioning the ability of the Ivorians, who boast a star-studded team, but the Black Stars themselves are not shy of talent, and boast one key weapon in their armoury heading into their second World Cup.

In coach Milovan Rajevac, Ghana have an individual who brings stability to their coaching and managerial set-up, an advantage that continues to evade their continental rivals.

For some years now, regular managerial upheaval has arguably been the African continent's greatest shortcoming, so much so that FIFA president Sepp Blatter recently addressed the issue, saying he was surprised so many African nations had made coaching changes in the run-up to the World Cup.

His words were directed at four of the six African teams who will contest the tournament - Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South Africa and Cameroon - and who have hired new coaches in the past 10 months.

By contrast, Rajevac is nearing the end of a two-year contract with Ghana and will benefit from familiarity and experience with his talented squad.

Since taking charge in August 2008, Rajevac has overseen the bulk of their qualifying campaign, experimented with formations, played without star man Michael Essien and led his team to the final of the African Nations Cup earlier this year, where they narrowly lost to Egypt.

The Serbian tactician has been helped in no short measure by Ghana's victory at the Under-20 World Cup last year, and he has been quick to plunder the youth ranks - with 10 members of that squad named in his party for the African Nations Cup.

A similar number could be in line for a call-up into the 23-man squad for this summer's finals, and Abedi Pele, the country's biggest football export, feels Rajevac's faith in the younger players has been one of the keys to his success.

"I think he's a coach that believes in young players and they have not let him down," the former Marseille and Lyon striker told Press Association Sport.

"He is also one that wants discipline. He looks for players that are hard-working on the ground and if you don't have these qualities, the players know they won't be part of his team.

"Tactically he's very strong and his ability to implement this has been well respected.

"So in all those areas he's a very strong personality and he's been able to get his message across."

Ghana were viewed as outsiders for the African Nations Cup earlier this year, and their odds lengthened further still with the loss of John Pantsil, John Mensah, Laryea Kingston and Stephen Appiah to injury, while Essien went into the tournament nursing a hamstring problem before suffering a knee injury.

But the performance in reaching the final in the absence of those star names has been a blessing in disguise, according to Pele.

He continued: "Our success at the African Cup went down really well because people now know that we can succeed as a team and we don't rely only on big stars.

"This has gone into the minds of the players and they now believe even more. This confidence will assist them a lot at the World Cup."

As for the burning issue of Chelsea midfielder Essien's ongoing fitness concerns, Pele said: "I think there's two sides to injuries - the positives and negatives.

"On one hand there are those who are fit that have not been given enough playing time in the national team, they are given the chance and a lot of them make their mark.

"Having Michael is always good for the team because the team needs him, especially with the leadership role he has always been playing.

"But having an unfit Michael, who is not recovered fully, won't be good. His influence is big and I think the whole of Ghana will be lifted if he comes back 100%."

After an impressive World Cup debut in Germany four years ago, where they were knocked out by Brazil in the second round, the Ghanaians will be aiming for more of the same this year despite again being pooled in a tough group.

In 2006 they lined up alongside Italy, the USA and the Czech Republic, while in South Africa they will meet Germany, Serbia and Australia in Group D.

But Pele is not fazed by the draw, adding: "I think every country on the continent is hoping to do well, but Ghana especially are very confident.

"It's always difficult to predict in major events and big games, but I think, with everything that has happened in Ghanaian football recently, we can go beyond the quarter-finals."