Goalkeeper Richard Kingson is so desperate to ensure Ghana are one of the best supported teams at the World Cup that he is using his own money to enable fans to travel to South Africa.
Despite having long been a dominant force on the African scene, the Black Stars are making only their second appearance at the finals. And Wigan keeper Kingson, 31, is determined that as many of his countryman get to the tournament to see Ghana, 37th in Fifa's rankings, perform against the world's best.
Chelsea's Michael Essien might be the biggest attraction in the team but Kingson is one of the most popular players among fans. And no wonder. Kingson uses his own money to help supporters travel to watch the national team. In addition he also contributes towards accommodation and admission costs.
They are all members of his official fan club, which currently numbers 110. "Not all of them can make it to games," Kingson, one of the most experienced players in Milovan Rajevac's squad, told FanHouse.
"But those that can, I try to prepare everything for them - travel, accomodation, tickets and T-shirts. "Some are strangers, some are friends. "In Ghana they love me so much.
I pay for them to come and watch me and support Ghana. It is expensive but you need to help your fellow friends and countrymen." Kingson is third-choice keeper at Wigan and has not made an appearance for the club this season.
Yet he is confident of performing as well as he did at the last World Cup after helping Ghana finish top of their qualifying group, which featured games against Benin, Mali and Sudan. The former Birmingham stopper was voted third best keeper at Germany 2006 behind Italy's Gianluigi Buffon and Portugal's Ricardo.
"The World Cup in Germany was our first time but we still made it through the group which included Italy, Czech Republic and the USA," added Kingson. "We have had a very good qualifying campaign and teams will have to be very careful of us in South Africa.
"We have some very strong players like Essien and Sulley Muntari. Even though I am not playing many games at the moment, I am working hard and trying to stay fit."
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