Michael Essien is out of World Cup South Africa 2010 with knee injury

Ghana midfielder Michael Essien will miss the World Cup after failing to recover from a knee injury. Essien injured a hamstring while playing for Chelsea against APOEL Nicosia in the European Champions League on Dec. 8.

He returned to play the second half for Ghana against Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations of Jan. 15, then injured his right knee two days later during training. He has not played since.

"An evaluation by a combined team of medical experts from the Ghana Football Association and Chelsea Football Club revealed that Essien will not make full recovery until the end of July," the association said Thursday on its website.

Ghana opens the World Cup on June 13 against Serbia, then plays Australia on June 18 and Germany on June 23. Essien helped Ghana reached the second round of the 2006 World Cup in its first appearance at the tournament.

Ghana team includes Boateng, Essien and Muntari on World Cup roster

Injured Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been included on Ghana's preliminary 30-man World Cup roster along with Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari and Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, who has never played for the Black Stars.

Essien injured a hamstring playing for Chelsea on Dec. 8, returned to appear for Ghana in the African Cup of Nations, then hurt his right knee in training with the Black Stars on Jan. 17. He has not played since.

Sunderland defender John Mensah, sidelined for much of the season by a calf injury, also was picked by Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac.

Boateng will have to be given international clearance because he has played for Germany's under-21 team.

Muntari was recalled after being overlooked for this year's African Cup of Nations.

Regular captain Stephen Appiah also was picked and two years of knee injuries that caused him to him miss out on the Cup of Nations.Ghana-based goalkeepers Stephen Aholu and Stephen Adams were handed their first call-ups to the national team.

The team will gather in France for a training camp that starts May 24. Ghana has friendlies against the Netherlands on June 1 and Latvia at Milton Keynes, England, on June 5 before heading to South Africa.

The Black Stars were the only African team to reach the second round of the 2006 World Cup, where they beat the Czech Republic and the United States in the first round before getting knocked out by Brazil. They are grouped this time with Germany, Rajevac's native Serbia and Australia.

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Stephen Adams (Aduana Stars), Daniel Agyei (Liberty Professionals), Stephen Aholu (Heart of Lions), Richard Kingston (Wigan, England)

Defenders: Eric Addo (Roda, Netherlands), Lee Addy (Bechem Chelsea), Rahim Ayew (Zamalek, Egypt), Samuel Inkoom (Basel, Switzerland), Jonathan Mensah (Granada, Spain), John Mensah (Sunderland, England), John Paintsil (Fulham, England), Hans Adu Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim, Germany)

Midfielders: Quincy Owusu Abeyie (Al Sadd, Qatar), Anthony Annan (Rosenborg, Norway), Stephen Appiah (Bologna, Italy), Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese, Italy), Dede Ayew (Arles-Avignon, France), Agyemang Badu (Udinese, Italy), Derek Boateng (Getafe, Spain), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Portsmouth, England), Haminu Draman (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia), Michael Essien (Chelsea, England), Bernard Kumordzie (Panionios, Greece), Laryea Kingston (Heart of Midlothian, Scotland), Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan, Italy)

Forwards: Dominic Adiyiah (AC Milan, Italy), Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda, Netherlands) Asamoah Gyan (Rennes, France), Prince Tagoe (Hoffenheim, Germany)

The Canadian Press // AFP

Africa Cup of Nations semifinals preview: Balanced Ties Expected

North African archrivals Algeria and Egypt play for a place in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations Thursday with six-time champions Egypt going all out not just to win a place that could put them nearer to a seventh title, but also avenge their defeat at the hands of Algeria last November that deprived them of a World Cup place next summer in South Africa. Algeria will be all out to prove that their decisive play-off win in Sudan was no fluke.

In the other semi-final Ghana meet Nigeria, but most eyes will be focussed on the North Africans’ clash. So much so that despite it being such an important clash, its significance has been played down and it seems that outside of Nigeria and Ghana, few people are giving the victors of this clash any chance in the final on Sunday.

There is an intense rivalry between the two African/Arab nations, which was reignited during their controversial pair of World Cup qualifiers in November.

Algeria suffered the humiliation of getting soundly beaten (3-0) by Malawi in their opening match. However, they bounced back by beating Mali and then got the draw they needed in their final group stage game against hosts Angola. After that they found their rhythm and outplayed pre-tournament favourites Ivory Coast in their quarter-final

They were most impressive in the last eight match as they managed to show the fighting spirit that fuelled their heroic World Cup qualifying campaign, and also their brand of highly technical football.

Egypt have been the most impressive team at this tournament thus far. But as they vie to become the first team to lift the Africa Cup of Nations trophy three times in succession, now find a familiar foe in their path.

The World Cup qualifiers between the two generated not only interest but also created problems, diplomatic as well as sporting. Hopefully, this time the two sides wont’ let their emotions get the better of them and make a concerted effort to remain concentrated on winning the game instead of focusing on who they are playing against.

In the meantime, Algeria hope that both goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi and Karim Ziani are fit to face the Egyptians. Ziani missed a day’s training to have a thigh injury inspected, while Chaouchi also missed a session in order to completely recover from the back problems he suffered against Ivory Coast.

While Egypt have reported a clean bill of health, a lot of importance is being attached to two players in particular, Algeria’s Karim Ziani whose contribution both in the match against Ivory Coast and the World Cup preliminary round play-off against Egypt two months ago cannot be overlooked, and Egypt’s Ahmed Hassan who celebrated his 170th appearance in an international shirt in style against Cameroon.

Ghana – Nigeria preview

An even more balanced tie could be the semi-final clash between Ghana and Nigeria. It will be between a very experienced side, Nigeria, and a young but talented Ghana team that has managed to surmount its pre-tournament and current injury problems to their stars to find a place so close to a fifth title victory.

The odds may favour Nigeria, but Ghana are cautiously optimistic about their chances against their West African rivals.

Nigeria find themselves at this stage despite lack-lustre performances, notably in the quarter-final against Zambia whom they beat in a penalty shoot-out. However, it is also a fact that the Super Eagles’ performance cannot be judged based on their game against Zambia.

They have the players who are able to raise their game and it would be a mistake for anyone to conclude that they will have another bad match.

Ghana have been boosted by the news that midfielder Anthony Annan may have completely recovered from a thigh injury and would be in the team.

Source: The Tripoli Post