BERLIN, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Tournament favorites Italy have substantial reasons to be confident in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Group E opening match against debutants Ghana next Monday with a terrific striking force, which is more than heavy for the west Africans to load.

    Marcello Lippi is likely to bring on a three-pronged striking force made up of Serie A top scorer Luca Toni, AC Milan prodigy Alberto Gilardino and AS Rome talisman Francesco Totti.

    As Ghana's central back pair Samuel Mensah and John Mensah lack height, burly hitman Toni could even threaten the Black Star's whole defence line single-handedly with his all round skills, not to mention the fantastic power of Totti and Gilardino.

    The Azzurri also have enough depth on the bench as Del Piero, Filippo Inzaghi and Udinese goal-getter Vincenzo Iaquinta are hungry for opportunities.

    Solid defence is Italy's tradition but this year there's some tiny difference. Gianluigi Buffon is safe at the goal. Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta undoubtedly would make a strong central pair, but along the two sides they may have some problem.

    As experienced Gianluca Zambrotta is sidelined with injury, Palermo's Cristian Zaccardo and Fabio Grosso may come up as fullbacks, but Grosso is more noted for his assists, while Zaccardo needs time to prove himself on big occasions.

    The midfield is the weakest point of Italy and Ghana could makegood use of it. Chelsea star Michael Essien, former Juventus midfielder Stephen Appiah and Udinese player Sulley Muntari are the pride of the Black Star.

    Without shinning creativity in offense, the functional midfield could still pose big pressure on the Azzurri, as the Italians relytoo much on playmaker Andrea Pirlo of AC Milan. Daniele De Rossi, Mauro Camoranesi are great as individuals but not as organizers.

    Italy and Ghana have never met at a full international. However,Ghana boast an unbeaten record against Italy in other FIFA competitions. In 1993, they ran out easy 4-0 winners in the FIFA U-17 World Championship, following this up with a 3-2 victory at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The latest meeting, at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, ended in a 2-2 draw.

    Italy have some mediocre performance in the last few warm-ups, grounding out draws with Ukraine 0-0 and with Switzerland 1-1, in which the attacking system lost inspiration and order as in their 4-1 demolition against Germany in March. In contrast, Ghana notched two emphatic victories in their last two friendlies, downing South Korea 3-1 and Jamaica 4-1 to show their brilliant form.

    Italy are seated with Ghana, the Czech Republic and the United States in a "Group E of Death". Thus the first three points are crucial for each team. Any team who lose in the first group match are probably to be shut out from the elimination stage. Enditem