John Mensah fitness boost for Ghana at World Cup

Published on: 01 June 2010

Ghana defender John Mensah has ended fears about hit fitness for the World Cup after putting a healthy show in the Black Stars friendly against Holland on Tuesday night.

Mensah came on as a second half substitute for Isaac Vorsah which boosted hopes of him playing a key role for the Black Stars in the tournament in South Africa

Despite the 4-1 defeat in Rotterdam, his activeness during the game will definitely make him a contender for a starting place in the Black Stars World Cup team.

Mensah was substituted with a left calf injury in Sunderland's 1-0 loss to Manchester United on May 2.

The 27-year-old said Saturday that he now feels fine but that Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac does not intend to play him in pre-World Cup training games.

"No pain, no nothing," Mensah said of his calf, speaking at the Black Stars' training camp north of Paris.

Explaining Rajevac's caution, he said: "The coach doesn't want to risk me for any unnecessary friendly games because of the World Cup."

Ghana will play Germany, Australia and Serbia in Group D, and Mensah says Ghana will need to "play like a wounded lion" to reach the knockout stages.

It will be missing top player Michael Essien, ruled out of the June 11-July 11 competition after failing to recover from a long-term knee injury.

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