Ghana's heart and soul plays the role of orchestrator.

Byline: Charles F. Gardner

NUREMBERG, Germany _ Ghana will be missing two of its key attacking players for its pivotal Group E match against the United States on Thursday.

But the heart and soul of the African team, 23-year-old Michael Essien, will be orchestrating from his deep midfield role.

And that's enough to put some serious concern in the mind of U.S. coach Bruce Arena.

"Essien is one of the top players in this tournament," Arena said. "They've played him in two roles. Against Italy, he was in more of an attacking position. Against the Czech Republic, he played deeper in midfield.

"He was magnificent. He not only organized, broke up a lot of plays, but he was the chief distributor, joined in the attack, and made the …