Essien Given A Major Disappointment

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been given a major disappointment after being dropped from the Ghana squad for the upcoming African cup of nations qualifiers. After a disappointing World Cup 2014 in which they failed to qualify past the group stages, there is a lot of pressure manager Kwesi Appiah. One of the enigmas of Ghana has been Michael Essien. The former Chelsea midfielder has struggled for first-team action at club level in the last five years. He has suffered numerous injuries during this period and it even forced him to take a self-imposed exile from the national team.

However, as one of the top players within the Ghana team, they have been unable to drop him from important matches. The decision to take him to the World Cup 2014 backfired after the midfielder got injured in the first group match. Essien failed to return to the first-team in the subsequent group matches, as Ghana were knocked out of a difficult group. Appiah appears to have taken the decision to not include the AC Milan midfielder in the future squads. At 32 years of age, he is approaching the end of his international career. After just six months following his move to Milan, he looks set for a move to Russian club Zenit St Petersburg.

Meanwhile, Ben Koufie has been appointed as the advisor for Appiah. Ghana’s main priority over the next six months will be to qualify for the African cup of nations. “Anyway I haven’t heard it but what I know is that the committee will meet today. I’m ready to help him (Kwesi Appiah) on that. Why not he’s a personal friend. He asked to be his technical director and I told him I’ll do it,” said Ben Koufie about his inclusion into the Ghana National team.