Position: Midfielder
Born: 24.12.80
Club: Fenerbahce

Captain Stephen Appiah will be one of the driving forces behind Ghana's bid for World Cup glory in Germany having played a vital role throughout their qualifying campaign.

A combative midfielder, Appiah has a strong engine but also has astute tactical awareness, linking up with the likes of Michael Essien almost telepathically.

Appiah made his international debut at the age of 16 but came to prominence at the 2000 African Nations Cup as Ghana reached the quarter-finals. Despite missing out two years later in Mali he is now well and truly here for the long term.

The battling midfielder has played in Europe for nearly ten seasons having started out with Udinese in 1997. After making his debut the following season he developed into a fine holding midfielder and was subsequently signed up by Parma two years later.

Although he failed to make an impact at the Ennio Tardini Stadium, he was loaned out to Brescia where he was a star player and attracted the attention of Italian champions Juventus.

In the 2003/04 season, Appiah played a significant role in helping Juve win the Coppa Italia but the following season was even better as he helped the club win the Serie A title for the 28th time.

The 25-year-old currently plays for Fenerbahce after the Turkish champions forked out 8million euros last summer.

• Isaac Boakye
• 8 Michael Essien
• 3 Asamoah Gyan
• 21 Gabriel Issah Ahmed
• 4 Samuel Kuffour
• 5 John Mensah
• 11 Sulley Ali Muntari
• 15 John Pantsil
• 6 Emmanuel Pappoe
• 12 Alex Tachie-Mensah