After a long wait for Michael Essien, the Ghana Football Authority (GFA) stated on Wednesday that the Ghanaian captain will not be fit in time for the World Cup which starts in a fortnight.
The statement on the GFA site read in part: "An evaluation by a combined team of medical experts from the Ghana Football Association and Chelsea Football Club revealed that Essien will not make full recovery until the end of July. The Ghana Football Association wishes him full recovery and a quick return to football action."
Unending rehabilitation
The 27-year-old Chelsea midfielder has been sidelined since suffering a knee injury during the African Cup of Nations in January.
It had been thought that Essien would return before the end of the season alongside Ashley Cole for Chelsea. Cole fractured his left ankle on February 10 2010 against Everton. The 28-year-old England international though returned in time to help the Blues grab the double, scoring the last goal in the 8-0 rout of Wigan on the last day..
What next for the Black Stars
This will further heap a lot of pressure on recuperating Stephen Appiah, who has not played club football for a year and Sulley Muntari, as both are not as dynamic as Essien.
Essien played in 10 of Ghana's 11 qualification matches, clocking more than 800 minutes of game time, as Ghana finished at the top of their group, and automatically sealed a spot at the World Cup. The Ghana coach had said last week that Essien's presence was invaluable to the Black Stars.
"Essien is an important player, not only for Ghana but for the World Cup. He is one of the best players in the world and the World Cup is an assembly of the best," said Coach Milovan Rajevac.
The coach must now tinker with the favoured 4-4-2 formation to accommodate Udinese's Kwadwo Asamoah alongside Sulley Muntari and Appiah. Although Ghana won't lack for presence in the centre of the park, there will be something missing; and that will be Michael Essien, who would make the line-up for any of the nations at the 2010 World Cup a better team.
