Wanelecstore

(CNN) -- Ghana captain Michael Essien has been ruled out of the World Cup due to injury, dealing a major blow to the Black Stars' hopes of success in the first tournament to be held in Africa.

The midfielder has not played for his English club Chelsea since December, but Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac picked the 27-year-old in his preliminary 29-man squad in the hope that he would be fit to play in the tournament.

But the Ghana Football Association announced on Thursday that Essien, who has won more than 50 caps and is known affectionately by fans as "The Bison," will not be ready before the month-long tournament finishes in mid-July.

"An evaluation by a combined team of medical experts from the Ghana Football Association and Chelsea Football Club revealed that Essien will not make full recovery until the end of July," it said in a statement on its Web site.

"The Ghana Football Association wishes him full recovery and a quick return to football action."

Essien's latest problems began six months ago when he suffered a hamstring injury in a European Champions League match, but he returned to fitness in time for Ghana's second match at the African Nations Cup in January.

But he then injured his knee in training, partially tearing medial ligament, and he needed to have several operations to repair the damage.

The former Lyon player also suffered a serious knee injury in 2008 which sidelined him for six months.

Earlier this month, Rajevac also named John Mensah in his preliminary squad despite the defender's injury problems.

Mensah, who also plays in England on loan with Sunderland, has been sidelined with a calf injury arising from a physical complication which has plagued him in recent years.

Midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, who also plays in England, was named by the Serbian coach after deciding to switch nationality.

The Portsmouth player was born in Germany, who he has represented at under-21 level, but has a Ghanaian father and his uncle has played for the Black Stars.

Rajevac also recalled Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari, who was dropped for the Africa Cup of Nations in January after deciding not to play in a friendly against Angola.

New Ivory Coast manager Sven-Goran Eriksson named a predictably talent-laden 30-man squad, with his side favored to be the continent's best prospect in South Africa.

The Elephants, who face Brazil, Portugal and North Korea in Group G, can call upon the English Premier League's top scorer Didier Drogba and his teammate at champions Chelsea, Salomon Kalou.

The midfield ranks include Barcelona's Champions League winner Yaya Toure, Hamburg's Guy Demel and Cheick Tiote of Dutch champions FC Twente.

Former England and Mexico coach Eriksson, who took over from Vahid Halilhodzic after a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign, also has England-based defenders Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure, Abdoulaye Meite and Steve Gohouri.

Cameroon coach Paul Le Guen gave Rigobert Song the chance to appear at his fourth World Cup after naming the 33-year-old defender in his 30-man squad.

Veteran midfielder Geremi, who also plays in Turkey, may play at his second tournament while Benoit Assou-Akotto is recalled after missing the Africa Cup of Nations through injury and his fellow Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong is included too after being omitted for the Angola event by the Frenchman.

Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o will continue as captain, having replaced Song when Le Guen took charge last year.

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira named Benni McCarthy in his 29-man squad after the striker was dropped by predecessor Joel Santana and has struggled with injury since moving to English club West Ham in January.

The Brazilian picked 10 Europe-based players, including captain Aaron Mokoena and midfielders Kagisho Dikgacoi and Steven Pienaar, but Nasief Morris of Spanish club Racing Santander missed out.

Nigeria coach Lars Lagerback gave Nwankwo Kanu the chance to earn his third World Cup appearance despite the 33-year-old striker's limited opportunities with English club Portsmouth this season.

Kanu's clubmate John Utaka has been recalled in the 30-man squad after being dropped by the Swede's sacked predecessor Amodu Shaibu, while midfielder Jon Obi Mikel is included despite missing the end of Chelsea's season due to minor knee surgery.

Goalkeeper Bassey Akpan and Peter Suswan were the only Nigeria-based players selected.

Algeria coach Rabah Saadane added five players to his initial 25-man squad to cover for injuries.

Lazhar Hadj Aissa, Hocine Metref and Khaled Lemmouchia of Algerian club ES Setif have joined the Desert Foxes' Swiss training camp along with Mohamed Meftah of JS Kabylie and Germany-based striker Chadli Amri.

Defender Nadir Belhadj and goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi were selected despite being banned for the opening Group C match against Slovenia due to red cards received in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinal against Egypt.

While Portsmouth's Belhadj can play in the second game against Hameur Bouazza, Chaouchi is suspended until the final pool clash with the United States.

Key midfielder Mourad Meghni, who plays for Italian club Lazio, has been ruled out of the finals with a knee problem that requires surgery.

(CNN) -- World Cup CEO Danny Jordaan has said South Africa is ready for the start of the 2010 World Cup which begins on 11 June, as the Australian national team became the first participating side to arrive in the host country.

The Socceroos landed in Johannesburg on Wednesday evening, where they will train for their opening group match of the World Cup against Germany on 13 June.

"We are pleased to welcome Australia as the first team to arrive in our country. We all know that the stadiums are all ready, everything is in place and now the teams are finally here," Jordaan told the official FIFA Web site.

"More importantly though, our people are ready. From now, we have to concentrate on the kickoff match in a few days' time."

Wednesday also saw the official handover of the brand-new Cape Town Stadium -- which reportedly cost $350 million to build -- in the presence of FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke.

Another 90,000 World Cup tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday morning -- including tickets for the opening games, semifinals and final. FIFA have also said that there are approximately 160,000 tickets -- out of the total 2.88 million available -- which remain unsold.

Five-time World Cup winners Brazil joined Australia in South Africa on Thursday -- their opening match against North Korea will take place on 15 June at Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium.

"I am very impressed by the Brazilian team," the chairman of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee South Africa, Irvin Khoza told the FIFA Web site.

"The arrival of Brazil gives great confidence to all South Africans that this World Cup is really happening."

Meanwhile, the host nation registered a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over Colombia in Johannesburg on Thursday night, with all three goals coming from the penalty spot.

Midfielder Teko Modise put Bafana Bafana ahead in the 18th minute in front of a crowd of 75,000 in the first international match at the new Soccer City stadium, though he was lucky to have a second attempt after the referee ruled that goalkeeper David Ospina moved too early before saving his first effort.

Giovanni Moreno leveled three minutes later for Colombia, who did not qualify for the World Cup, with a spot-kick after Adrian Ramos was fouled.

Striker Katlego Mphela's 58th-minute winner left South Africa unbeaten in nine matches since Carlos Alberto Parreira returned for his second spell as coach.

Parreira's team continue their preparations against Guatemala on Monday before a June 5 clash with fellow finalists Denmark, who won 2-0 at home to Senegal on Thursday.

Earlier, Honduras drew 2-2 with Belarus in Austria, while Chile beat Zambia 3-0 with two goals from Italy-based striker Alexis Sanchez and fellow South American qualifiers Uruguay crushed Israel 4-1 after a late double from substitute Sebastien Abreu.

(CNN) -- France and the Netherlands both recorded narrow home victories in warm-up matches ahead of next month's World Cup in South Africa.

Robin van Persie scored twice as the Dutch defeated fellow finalists Mexico 2-1 and Mathieu Valbuena grabbed an 83rd minute winner on his debut in France's 2-1 victory over Costa Rica.

Van Persie, playing his first international for six months following an ankle injury, scored from close range with his right foot to make it 1-0, before smashing home his second on the volley.

Mexico pulled a goal back 15 minutes from time when Manchester United-bound Javier Hernandez headed in a cross from the left.

Tottenham's Giovani Dos Santos had a chance to level the score, but his powerful shot was tipped over the bar by Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Costa Rica, who are not going to South Africa after losing a play-off to Uruguay in November, took a surprise lead in the 12th minute when Carlos Hernandez's long-range shot bounced over Steve Mandanda's hands.

Yoann Gourcuff had a goal ruled out for offside before France claimed their leveler via an own-goal.

Jeremy Toulalan fed Franck Ribery, whose shot was deflected into his own net by Douglas Sequeira.

The game appeared to be heading for a draw before Valbuena came off the bench to slam in the winner seven minutes from time.

Meanwhile, Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez were the surprise names in the 23-man U.S. squad for the World Cup.

Coach Bob Bradley cut seven players from his initial roster, namely defenders Chad Marshall and Heath Pearce; midfielders Alejandro Bedoya, Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers; and forwards Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson.

The Americans, beaten 4-2 by the Czech Republic on Tuesday, take on England on June 12 in Rustenburg in their opening World Cup match.

England striker Wayne Rooney has played down fears he is not fully fit.

Rooney suffered from groin and ankle injuries towards the end of the season with Manchester United and had a stiff neck during England's 3-1 victory over Mexico on Monday.

"Fitness-wise I feel good," Rooney told reporters at the England camp. "I have been in every training session with England since we got together."

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was satisfied after seeing his team beat Colombia 2-1 in a scrappy FIFA World Cup™ warm-up at Soccer City on Thursday.

With the FIFA World Cup hosts due to play in the opening match on 11 June against Mexico at the rebuilt stadium, the Brazilian said he was pleased how his players responded to the frenzied atmosphere made by 75,000 supporters. "I'm happy that we have played here now because we could not start the World Cup without having experienced that atmosphere," he said.

"Colombia are a big team and there was excitement from beginning to end. I'm pleased with my players because they will face all these challenges against Mexico on June 11. We didn't play as well as the last game (against Bulgaria) but conditions were different - it was like a World Cup game."

Parreira added: "The boys fought well but lacked some experience in the last 10 minutes and should have kept hold of the ball more. But it is part of the learning process and we won."

"South Africa have a dynamic team who work hard," said Colombia coach Hernan Gomez. "Parreira is an experienced head coach and he has organised them well, but it is difficult to know how they will get on in the World Cup."

Bongani Khumalo, voted man of the match for a solid display in central defence, admitted the atmosphere had acted as an inspiration. "It's a great motivation for us to play in such a wonderful stadium and I think we will be used to it by the time we play Mexico," he said.

Parreira must decide on his 23-man squad after a friendly against Guatemala on Monday and admitted it will be a hard call, saying he would speak to each player regarding his decisions. "I'll talk to them face to face. This is the best way. They know the situation is that we can take only 23 players, but it is always a tough decision to kill someone's dream."

South Africa extended an unbeaten run to nine games since Carlos Alberto Parreira returned as coach last November with a 2-1 victory over Colombia on Thursday in a tense 2010 FIFA World Cup™ warm-up.

The host nation played better football when drawing with Bulgaria three days ago, but the sell-out 75,000 crowd at Soccer City did not care as they celebrated a winning Bafana Bafana (The Boys) debut at the rebuilt stadium. All the goals came from penalties with midfielder Teko Modise and striker Katlego Mphela the South African scorers and Giovanni Moreno converting his kick for non-qualifiers Colombia.

Parreira introduced West Ham striker Benni McCarthy, under fire from the domestic media who claim he is overweight, midway through the second half but he did not get a chance to add to his record 32-goal international haul.

"We fought and we got the result we wanted against experienced opponents with many Europe-based players. Some of my team were nervous toward the end," said Brazilian Parreira.

New Colombia coach Hernan Gomez showered praise on South Africa: "They are a really great team who have a highly respected coach. It was a really tough, competitive match."

A first half lacking rhythm finished 1-1 with Modise converting his penalty at the second attempt on 18 minutes and Giovanni Moreno levelling from another spot kick three minutes later. But South Africa were lucky to be level as Colombia opened yawning gaps at times in a defence struggling despite the presence of foreign-based Aaron Mokoena and Tsepo Masilela.

It was the first time since Parreira had his entire squad on call that he did not start with an all-local line-up and the side were unimpressive despite passionate backing on a dry, cool night.

A tale of three penalties
Modise was the first to score making no mistake at the second attempt sending the goalkeeper the wrong way, after originally seeing his penalty saved, only for the referee to order a re-take deeming the goalkeeper had moved off his line too early.

Colombia, who have failed to qualify for three consecutive FIFA World Cup tournaments since 1998, won their penalty when goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune, injured in an early collision with Jackson Martinez, fouled Adrian Ramos. Moreno stepped up to fire the ball into the corner of the net and the visitors had deservedly restored equality.

Masilela rescued South Africa in the first minute of stoppage time by blocking a shot from Martinez as Colombia looked more dangerous than the first African country to stage the FIFA World Cup when pressing forward. Parreira changed goalkeepers for the second half with Moeneeb Josephs coming on and both central midfielders were also replaced with Kagisho Dikgacoi and Everton Player of the Season Steven Pienaar entering the fray.

Yet another penalty, awarded for a foul on Siphiwe Tshabalala by Jhon Valencia, put South Africa ahead again on 58 minutes as previously quiet Katlego Mphela sent Ospina the wrong way.

Guatemala are next up for South Africa on 31 May in the northern city of Polokwane followed by a final warm-up against fellow FIFA World Cup qualifiers Denmark - 2-0 winners over Senegal on Thursday in Denmark - on 5 June near Pretoria.