Michael Essien ruled out of World CupGhana's World Cup preparations have suffered a huge setback with the news that a knee injury will prevent Chelsea star Michael Essien from playing in the finals in South Africa.
Essien sustained the injury during Ghana's African Nations Cup campaign in January and missed the remainder of the Premier League season as a result.
Ghana manager Milovan Rajevac said only on Wednesday he was "confident" Essien would play some part in the World Cup, but the nation's FA has confirmed the midfielder will not recover in time for the tournament.
A statement from the Ghana Football Association read: "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 Ghana Football Association wishes him full recovery and a quick return to football action."
Essien has started only 23 Premier League games for Chelsea in the past two seasons as he has been dogged by injury.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/790775/ce/uk/?cc=4716&ver=global
