WUERZBURG, Germany -- Ghana is not afraid to play Italy or its other Group E opponents at the World Cup after receiving a boost from the return of midfielder Michael Essien.

The west Africans, making their first World Cup appearance in Germany, were buoyed by Sunday's 3-1 warmup victory over South Korea.

"This is the first time we've had a full squad in seven months," team coordinator Anthony Baffoe said Monday. "It was a vital test before the encounter against Italy.

"We are prepared and we are not scared. We're looking forward to our first match."

The Black Stars play Italy in their opening match on June 12. The team then faces the Czech Republic and the United States in Group E.

All three scorers in Sunday's friendly had been absent when Ghana was eliminated from the first round of the African Cup of Nations earlier this year -- a failure that threw the team into months of gloom.

On Sunday, Essien set up one goal with a perfect pass, and then scored another. Goals also came from Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari, who play in Italy.

They partnered well with energetic captain Stephen Appiah of Fenerbahce and Borussia Dortmund forward Matthew Amoah, who narrowly missed a chance to score in the second half.

"We're been improving every game ... People back home didn't have so much hope in us. Now we're back on track," said Baffoe, a former Ghana international who also played for FC Cologne and Metz.

Baffoe said Ghana has no injury worries except for a "minor problem" facing reserve goalkeeper Richard Kingston, expected to keep him out of training for two or three days.

Since its World Cup roster was announced last month, Ghana drew 1-1 with Turkey and easily defeated Jamaica 4-1, the goals in both matches provided by Amoah, Muntari and Appiah.

The results relieved Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic, who had faced calls to resign after January's African Cup defeats by Nigeria and Zimbabwe. The team did beat Senegal but still failed to reach the quarterfinals.

"Ghanians are strong, (and have) good skill and a good team," Dujkovic said Sunday. "We must be happy about our team.

"Italy are favorites in this group. They are a tough side, but they (will) have to suffer to beat us," Dujkovic added.

The 60-year-old coach also faced criticism over recent remarks to a German magazine regarded as being racist. The magazine quoted Dujkovic as saying that "discipline is the biggest problem with Black Africans."

Ghanian soccer officials summoned Dujkovic to explain his remarks and later said they believed he had been "misrepresented" in the interview.