Croatia and Ghana World Cup Squads Announced

The floodgates are open and instead of trickling in one by one the World Cup announcements are now coming in pairs. Today we learned the names of the fine men who will be representing Croatia and Ghana in the World Cup. From our perch in the sky, the Croatia team looks very solid. Whether or not they’ll recapture the magic of ‘98 remains to be seen but this year’s version should be fun to watch. I know if I were an opposing coach I wouldn’t be too keen to play them.

Meanwhile, Ghana coach Ratomir Djukovic continues to shuffle the chairs on the deck, announcing a World Cup squad that is much different than the Black Stars team that played so poorly in the African Nations Cup in January. The World Cup team features 10 players who did not take part in the CAN, including PSV Eindhoven midfielder Eric Addo who hasn’t played an international match for his country for eight years. Ghana has some talent, but the question is whether it will come together as a team in time to be a threat in Group E. Based on your comments, it doesn’t look like many of you expect Ghana to escape their group. We have to agree, but they’ll put up a good fight.

Here are the rosters. Undoubtedly there will be better and wiser analysis to be found on the Croatia blog and the Ghana blog.

Croatia
Goalkeepers: Tomislav Butina (Club Bruges), Stipe Pletikosa (Hajduk Split), Joe Didulica (Austria Vienna)

Defenders: Robert Kovac (Juventus), Stjepan Tomas (Galatasaray), Dario Simic (AC Milan), Mario Tokic (Austria Vienna), Josip Simunic (Hertha Berlin), Igor Tudor (Siena), Marijan Buljat (Dinamo Zagreb)

Midfielders: Jerko Leko (Dynamo Kiev), Niko Kranjcar (Hajduk Split), Niko Kovac (Hertha Berlin), Marko Babic (Bayer Leverkusen), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Ivan Leko (Club Bruges), Luka Modric (Dinamo Zagreb), Jurica Vranjes (Werder Bremen), Anthony Seric (Panathinaikos)

Forwards: Dado Prso (Rangers), Ivan Klasnic (Werder Bremen), Bosko Balaban (Club Bruges), Ivica Olic (CSKA Moscow), Ivan Bosnjak (Dinamo Zagreb)
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Ghana

Defenders: Addoquaye Pappoe (Ashdod Tel-Aviv, Israel), John Painstil (Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel), John Mensah(Rennes, France), Issa Ahmed (Randers, Denmark), Sammy Osei Kuffuor (AS Roma, Italy), Hans Adu Sarpei (Vfl Wolfsburg, Germany), Dan Quaye (Hearts of Oak), Habib Mohammed (King Faisal), Shilla Illiasu (Asante Kotoko)

Midfielders: Stephen Appiah (Fenerbache, Turkey), Michael Essien (Chelsea, England), Sulley Ali Muntari (Udinese, Italy), Haminu Dramani (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro), Eric Addo (PSV Eindhoven,Holland) Derek Boateng (AIK Solna, Sweden), Otto Addo (FSV Mainz 05, Germany)

Strikers: Asamoah Gyan (Modena, Italy) Matthew Amoah (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Razak Pimpong (FC Copenhagen, Denmark), Alex Tachie-Mensah (St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Standby: Philemon McCarthy (Fetteh Feyenoord), Aziz Ansah (Asante Kotoko), Yusif Chibsah (Asante Kotoko), Baffour Gyan (Dynamo Moscow, Russia), Baba Adamu (Krylia Sovetov, Russia)