Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has finally joined his teammates
and is available for Friday's African Cup of Nations encounter
against Ivory Coast.
The Chelsea star arrived in Angola on Wednesday and flew to
the Northern town of Cabinda where the Ghana team is located.
Essien was set to join his teammates Sunday night in Cabinda
but was forced to stay in London after extreme weather delayed
flights out of England.
"He arrived this morning in Angola. He is with the team,"
Ghana Football Association's spokesperson Randy Abbey told The
Associated Press. "He is ready to play and is available for play.
If the coach decides that he will play, he will be available for
the game (against Ivory Coast)."
The Black Stars midfielder has recovered from a hamstring
injury and is likely to face a fitness test before Ghana coach
Milovan Rajevac decides whether he will play.
Essien returned to training last week with Chelsea after
picking up his injury during the English club's final Champions
League group match against Apoel Nicosia at Stamford Bridge on Dec.
8. He has not played since.
"But he has been training with his club recently and should
be physically fit" Abbey said.
Ghana's scheduled opener against Togo on Monday was called
off after Togo left the tournament following a deadly attack
against its team bus last week. Each team in Group B will
consequently only play two games with the top two teams reaching
the knockout phase.
The Ivorians will wrap up their group campaign against Ghana
and have no room for mistake as they could be eliminated if they
lose.
Ghana recently won the Under-20 World Cup and Rajevac said he
is likely to use his young talent to try and keep the Ivorians at
bay.
"We want to win this competition but this first game is going
to be interesting pitting our very young team against one of the
best and most experienced sides in Africa," he said.
Ghana, which has won the biennial continental tournament four
times, will be without Anthony Annan against the Elephants, with
the Norway-based midfielder unavailable due to a hamstring injury.
