Michael Essien will miss the remainder of the Africa Cup of Nations after suffering a knee injury in training.
The Ghana team doctor said he expected the Chelsea midfielder to be out for at least a month after scans revealed the 27-year-old had suffered a partially torn medial collateral ligament as well as damaging his meniscus cartilage.
Essien’s loss could be a bitter blow to Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea coach, although a hamstring injury meant the Italian was without the influential midfielder for much of December. Chelsea are scheduled to play Arsenal in the Barclays Premier and Inter Milan in the Champions League next month and Essien must be considered a doubt for both matches.
Chelsea confirmed that Essien would return to London later this week, where the extent of injury would be examined. “Chelsea Football Club is aware of the injury to Michael Essien and have been in contact with the Ghanaian national team,” a statement read. “We will fully assess the injury on Michael’s return to us later this week. Until then we are unable to comment further.
The news comes as a major blow to Ghana’s hopes, with the Black Stars needing to beat Burkina Faso tomorrow to qualify for the quarter-finals. Ghana are already without defenders John Pantsil and John Mensah, as well as midfielders Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari.
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“This is a big blow because Michael is so important to our team,” Matthew Amoah, the Ghana striker, said. “We’ve lost the motor in our midfield, and this is very bad.”
The Ghana captain had gone into the tournament with hamstring trouble and his team-mates said they feared the worst when Essien went down.
“Michael was turning to make a pass when he just went down,” Anthony Annan, the Ghana midfielder, said. “There was no contact from any other player but those around him say they heard a click, and then the physios rushed over.”