Milo bullish over Stars opponents

Milovas confident over the draw Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac is bracing himself for Wednesday's draw for the final phase of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, insisting the Black Stars are ready to face any country on the continent.

There will be heightened tension within FIFA's Zurich headquarters tomorrow as the continent readies to hear the placements of the five groups of four teams that will constitute the final round of African Zone qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and CAF Nations Cup.

The Black Stars will not meet Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Cameroon, who have all been seeded with Ghana because of their present form and past record.

As the anxiety feels the continent ahead of the draw at 14:00 GMT, Rajevac remains calm in the Black Stars quest for a second successive appearance at the World Cup, expecting a competitive qualifying campaign which stars in March 2009.

Even though the Black Stars will aovid some of the big names on the continent the Serbian is aware that underrating any side in Africa could spell the doom of Ghana.

"We don't fear any team and we won?t underestimate any team," Rajevac told GFA.

"There are a lot of teams that for some people look not very good.

"But such teams have a lot of their players playing in Europe. Benin for instance has a lot of players playing in the French First Division. Such teams deserve respect.

?But we are ready for any team.?

No fear

Despite Rajevac's preparedness to play any side Ghana is paired with, the Serbian says other teams would hope to avoid the Black Stars.

"We need some luck in the draw but there is no team we must avoid because we are a top seed, we are favourites and we are one of the top teams. Teams must rather avoid us."

The real World Cup qualifiers for Africa would begin just after the draw when coaches and representatives seize their opponents with each side carrying the sole aim of being part of the historic event in 2010 to be hosted by South Africa, the first by an African nation.

And for Ghana's coach, his work would be cut out when he begins to study and research on his opponents.

"The qualifiers begin immediately after the draw. We must study our opponents, do a lot of research on their team as well as monitor their key players."

Matches are scheduled for six weekends from next March to November with the exception of a June fixture involving Egypt, which must be delayed one month because of their involvement in the FIFA Confederations Cup, says FIFA.

Only the side that finishes first in each pool will to the finals of the World Cup in South Africa.

SEEDS

Pot 1 (top seeds)

Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire

Pot 2

Guinea, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Algeria

Pot 3

Burkina Faso, Gabon, Zambia, Kenya, Benin

Pot 4

Rwanda, Togo, Mozambique, Sudan, Malawi