ACCRA, Ghana - Ghana picked Michael Essien and Kevin-Prince Boateng in a preliminary 26-man World Cup squad on Monday. The group will be trimmed to a final 23-man squad after a friendly game against the Netherlands on May 31, the Ghana Football Association said. AC Milans Essien and Schalkes Boateng were named after returning to international football last year. They had both asked for time away from the national team in the years after the last World Cup. Ghana captain and striker Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Sulley Muntari were also included and are set to play in their third consecutive World Cups. Ghana was the best-performing African team at the 2010 tournament, reaching the quarterfinals and just missing out on the semifinals after a penalty shootout loss to Uruguay in South Africa. Ghana will play the United States, Germany and Portugal in Group G in Brazil, and opens its campaign against the U.S. in Natal on June 16. Ghana beat the U.S. in the second round of the last World Cup. Coach Kwesi Appiah didnt reveal what his target was for the team that nearly became the first African nation into the last four of a World Cup four years ago. "Once the players are all fit we hope to deliver," Appiah said. "Every coach has a target and l believe in my players and the national team, but l cannot tell where we will get to. The only thing l can say is we will not disgrace Ghanaians." Essien missed the 2010 World Cup through injury and is likely facing his last chance to play at the showpiece in Brazil. Boateng stepped down from national team duties in 2011 but was recalled to Ghanas squad toward the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign late last year. Ghana will play in its third straight World Cup in Brazil. Appiah also picked Marseilles Andre Ayew, Juventus Kwadwo Asamoah and young attacking midfielder Wakaso Mubarak. Defender Jeffrey Schlupp, who plays for Englands Leicester City, was the biggest surprise in the initial squad. The GFA announced Monday that Ghana would play the Netherlands in Rotterdam on May 31 and South Korea in Miami on June 9 in its final World Cup warm-ups before facing Jurgen Klinsmanns U.S. team in Brazil. ___ Provisional squad: Goalkeepers: Adam Kwarasey, Fatawu Dauda, Stephen Adams. Defenders: Samuel Inkoom, Daniel Opare, Harrison Afful, Jeffrey Schlupp, John Boye, Jonathan Mensah, Jerry Akaminko, Rashid Sumaila. Midfielders: Michael Essien, Rabiu Mohammed, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Kwadwo Asamoah, Sulley Muntari, Albert Adomah, Wakaso Mubarak, Christian Atsu, David Accam, Andre Ayew, Afriyie Acquah. Forwards: Asamoah Gyan, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Abdul Majeed Waris, Jordan Ayew. Kent Bazemore Jersey . -- Houstons All-Star tandem of James Harden and Dwight Howard refused to let the Rockets give in to fatigue. 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Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major.SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Mercedes locked out the front row for the Bahrain Grand Prix as Nico Rosberg claimed pole position on Saturday, qualifying ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner. It was Mercedes third straight pole to start the Formula One season but the first for Rosberg, who equaled his father Keke with five career poles. Rosberg leads the championship on 43 points, 18 ahead of Hamilton. "It has just worked well through the weekend, finding my way, making progress and getting through some issues," Rosberg said. "I have good memories of this track, winning the GP2 championship and starting my first race in F1. I enjoy coming here and again today its suited me." Rosberg and Hamilton have a win each from the opening two races of the season and Mercedes also dominated the three practice sessions leading into qualifying, both in day and night conditions, with Sundays race to be held at night for the first time. The only surprise was Rosberg taking pole ahead of Hamilton, who usually thrives in the one-lap format. "I locked up in the last lap but generally I am happy for the team," Hamilton said. "Nico did a great job and naturally Im happy my teammate is there and not someone else." Defending four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel did not even make the final session of qualifying and will start from 10th on the grid -- promoted one spot as his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified third, gets a 10-place grid penalty from the previous race in Malaysia. Vettel paid the price for a session-ending spin in pre-qualifying practice which prevented him from getting valuable data on how to set up the car on tthe soft-tire, low-fuel setting.dddddddddddd He also complained of a downshifting problem. "The final run for some reason was a bit more difficult, the rears were locking up," Vettel said. "We had been playing around with it for quite a while, we are still not where we want to be but I dont want to blame it on that. There was a little bit more in the car which I couldnt get to, so I am not happy with today." Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and Force Indias Sergio Perez qualified fourth and fifth respectively and, with the one-place promotion, both equaled their best career starting positions. Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen qualified sixth, four places ahead of Fernando Alonso, to take the qualifying honours over his teammate for the first time this season in what is expected to a year-long fight between the two former world champions. Alonso said the car was down on power in the final part of qualifying, though he felt the teams starting grid positions of fifth and ninth were "more or less what we expected to be honest." "Q2 we were down a little bit and Q3 we lost more," Alonso said. "Still, we didnt miss out on the possibility of pole position because we are not in that kind of position. Its just a couple of places that hopefully tomorrow we can recover." McLarens Jenson Button, contesting his 250th grand prix, qualified in seventh and his teammate Kevin Magnussen was ninth, separated by Felipe Massa of Williams. Aside from Vettels early elimination, the main surprise of Q2 was Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg qualifying in 12th, having been fastest of all drivers in Q1 and showing strong pace during the practice sessions. Saubers Adrian Sutil was hit with a five-place grid penalty for impeding Lotus Romain Grosjean in the first session of qualifying, sending him to the very back of the grid. 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