At every tournament, stars, both old and young emerge from nowhere and the script for Ghana’s Jonathan Mensah is one of such story lines that the 2010 World Cup in South Africa has produced.
A surprise addition by Milovan Rajevac ahead of some experienced players, Mensah has shone for the Black Stars after three successive appearances for Ghana and the youngster is only hoping to get better with every training session and match.
“To be part of the squad and even get the opportunity to play is a great feeling for me,” Mensah said on Monday.
“I’m learning a lot both at training and on the pitch. The World Cup is a great competition and as a youngster with this huge opportunity to serve my nation at the highest level, it means so much to me.”
There is more to come from the 19 year-old defender though suspended for the crucial quarter-final match against Uruguay on Friday, having stayed solid at the back to help the Black Stars beat the United States 2-1 last Saturday.
He insists that Ghana’s team spirit has remained the bedrock of their success so far at the World Cup and it showed again in their last game against the U.S after his innocuous challenge earned the Americans a penalty to help them draw level before Asamoah Gyan struck the winner for Ghana three minutes into extra time.
"When they came up 1-1, we had to make sure we weren't down, we had to fight to get another goal and we did," he said.
"When the game was over 90 minutes we knew we had to pick ourselves up and fight and that's what we did. We talked to each other in the group, got together and that was what gave us the spirit and strength."
Mensah, who would sit out the game against Uruguay says Ghana are not frightened of the South American threat with a World Cup semi-final berth in sight despite Oscar Tabarez’s side putting in some descent run of performances.
“I know I would miss the game but we have other players who would come in. It’s been a good time for me to play at this level.
"All the other African teams are out so the whole of Africa is looking at us. So we need to deliver.
"We're not worried about Uruguay. When we qualified to play the USA we weren't worried and we won, so we're going to do the same thing."