The Chelsea star was set to join his team-mates on Sunday night in Angola but was forced to stay in London after extreme weather delayed flights out of England. But the former Lyon midfielder arrived in Angola on Wednesday and flew to the northern town of Cabinda, where the Ghana squad is based. The Ghana Football Association's spokesperson, Randy Abbey, confirmed: "He arrived this morning in Angola. He is with the team and available to play." Essien has been suffering from a hamstring injury and is likely to face a fitness test before Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac decides whether he will play. The Black Stars' opener was scheduled to be against Togo on Monday but was cancelled after the gun attack on Togo's team bus, which left three people dead. Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso will now play only two games each in Group B, with the top two reaching the knock-out phase. Ivory Coast are determined to get a positive result on Friday having been surprisingly held to a goalless draw by Burkina Faso on Monday. Ghana will definitely be without Rosenborg midfielder Anthony Annan (hamstring) and Rajevac is planning to blood some of the young stars that helped Ghana win the Under-20 World Cup in October. "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.
