HANNOVER, Jun 11 (SW) - Three-times World Champions Italy begin their 2006 World Cup adventure against the Black Eagles, debutants Ghana.

Italy, recently plagued by a domestic match-fixing scandal, will aim to make the world forget about that and focus on what matters now: The Azzurri, which is the nick name for the Italian national team.

Marcello Lippi's main injury worry has been star defender Alessandro Nesta, who appears to be fit in time for his team's opener.

But it's not all good news as Gianluca Zambrotta and Gennaro Gattuso are both still too injured to participate in this match.

In their first ever World Cup appearance, Ghana will be particularly led by top players as Kuffour, Essien and Appiah.

Facts:

Italy have appeared in 15 out of 17 previous World Cups, and won the tournament three times. In 1934 and 1938, the Italians took the trophy and this happened again, more recently in 1982. That year, Zoff and Rossi's side beat West Germany in the final.

Ghana, one of six debutants at this World Cup, of which a staggering four are African, have 23 players from 23 different teams.

Head to head:

There have been no previous encounters between these two teams.

Probable line-ups:

Italy: Buffon, Oddo or Zaccardo, Nesta, Cannavaro, Grosso, Camoranesi, Pirlo, Perrotta/De Rossi, Totti, Toni, Gilardino

Ghana: Adjei, Paintsil, Kuffour, Mensah, Pappoe, Muntari, Essien, Appiah, Addo, Gyan, Amoah

Location: AWD-Arena, Hannover

Time: 21:00 (9:00pm) CET

Referee: Carlos Simon (BRA)