JOHANNESBURG - Africa's last surviving team at the 2010 World Cup, Ghana, are on the brink of making history. If they beat Uruguay on Friday, the Black Stars will become the first African team ever to reach the last four of the tournament. This year's competition was billed as the "African World Cup" not just because the continent is staging the championship for the first time, but because expectations were high that Africa's six representatives would make use of home advantage and improve on their previous performances. After hosts South Africa, Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast all fell by the wayside at the group stage it seemed a whole continent would be left disappointed. But the Black Stars had other ideas. Saturday night's 2-1 win over the United States in Rustenburg meant Ghana became only the third African team, after Cameroon (in 1990) and Senegal (in 2002), to reach the World Cup quarter-finals and on Friday they can become the first team to reach the semi- finals. And with Ghana's reputation for being the "African Brazil" it is apt that they are now left to lead the fight against the South American teams - all five of whom have qualified for the knockout phase of the competition. Ghana, the first African country to gain political independence in 1957, have long been regarded as the Brazil of Africa, in part for their flair but also because they have dominated the game at continental level, having won the Africa Cup of Nations four times. Four years ago in Germany, they underlined their huge promise when they became the only African team to reach the Round of 16 in their debut appearance in a World Cup finals. Just as in 2006, the Black Stars are the youngest team at South Africa 2010 with an average age of 24 years. Their team has several members of the side who, in September, made history by becoming the first African team to win the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, in Egypt. Ghana beat Brazil on penalties in the final and could even end up facing the Brazilians in the semi-finals if they can get past Uruguay. "We want to take it a step further and really make history for Africa," said 20-year-old Andre 'Dede' Ayew, who put away the winning penalty in the U-20s triumph over Brazil. Former Ghana skipper Sammy Osei Kuffour has said he is wary of the Uruguayan strike force of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez, who have netted five goals in South Africa so far. "The boys have already done us proud, but we now have a good chance of reaching the semi-finals. However, Uruguay have two very dangerous strikers, Forlan and Suarez, who Ghana must keep a special eye on," warned Kuffour, who featured at the 2006 World Cup. Against Uruguay, Ghana will be without young central defender Jonathan Mensah, who was outstanding against the US after covering for the injured Isaac Vorsah. FIFA Man of the Match Ayew will also be missing as both he and Jonathan Mensah are suspended after they received their second bookings of the tournament. "Even after giving away a penalty, Jonathan was simply outstanding," added Kuffour. "He won everything in the air. While Dede has been improving every day and against the US proved to the whole world what a great player he is. We will miss him." Experienced midfielder Sully Muntari will replace Ayew, while Lee Arday will take the place of Jonathan Mensah. Another experienced campaigner, Stephen Appiah, has promised that Ghana's united front can now take them one step further and make Africa proud. "We are a very united team," he said. "There is no difference between the young players and the older players. When you come to our camp, you won't know who is playing in Europe, or who is playing in the local league. Our victory has united us even more and boosted our confidence to go even further in this World Cup."
