Michael Essien won’t play Ghana-England friendly at Wembley

Contrary to media reports that  Michael Essien will be available for the Ghana-England friendly, the midfielder has confirmed that he will not be part of the Ghana squad in Wembley next month.

The Chelsea midfielder who confirmed this on his official website when asked whether he told coach Goran Stevanovic that he would return to the Ghana squad and will be available for the games in March (Congo & England), he said “I told him I will definitely return to the Ghana squad but we didn’t talk about dates and I didn’t tell him I was available to play in March. I am not sure where those stories came from.”

“I don’t want Ghanaians to believe these stories and then in March be disappointed that I am not in the team. I will definitely return to the team at some point in the future however it won’t be for the upcoming games. I haven’t told the coach or anyone else that” he added.

However, Essien said he will be at Wembley to support the Team.

“Of course I’ll be at Wembley to support the team. I am a Black Stars supporter like any other player. I predict Ghana to win.”

Ghana will play Congo in an African Nations Cup qualifier in Brazzaville on March 27 and face England two days later.

Essien suffered a serious injury in September 2008 while playing against Libya and was out for six months.

He got injured again at the Nations Cup finals in Angola in January last year and missed the World Cup in South Africa, where the Black Stars reached the quarter-finals.

By Ekow Quandzie