Ghana's hopes of reaching the quarterfinals of the African Cup of
Nations were dealt a blow when Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien
was ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a knee injury.
Essien sustained the injury at training Sunday.
"He will not be able to play anymore in the tournament,"
Ghana spokesman Randy Abbey said Monday without giving more
details.
Chelsea added on its Web site: "We will fully assess the
injury on Michael's return to us later this week."
Following its 3-1 loss to Ivory Coast in Group B, Ghana must
beat Burkina Faso on Tuesday in Luanda to go through.
Teams in Group B play only two games each and the top two
advance to the knockout phase after Togo pulled out of the
tournament following a deadly ambush on its team bus.
Ivory Coast has already qualified from Group B with four
points from two games, three more than Burkina Faso. Ghana is
bottom of the group with zero points after one game.
Essien, who played only 45 minutes against Ivory Coast,
returned to training two weeks ago with Chelsea after being injured
during the club's final Champions League group match against Apoel
Nicosia at Stamford Bridge on Dec. 8.
