Michael Essien

Michael Essien (born December 3, 1982 in Accra) is a Ghanaian International football (soccer)er. He currently plays for Chelsea F.C. in the Premier League. He is a central midfielder and plays as a deep-lying playmaker for the Black Stars, the Ghana national football team.

Club career

Born in Accra, Essien began his career in a local club in his native Ghana, called Liberty Professionals FC. He broke through when he played in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand. This led to considerable attention from European scouts.

SC Bastia

In July 1999, France club SC Bastia signed Essien. At Bastia, he did not command a regular place in the team, playing at right back, left back and in central defense. Then because of an injury to one of his teammates, he was given a temporary opportunity to play in central midfield. Essien flourished in this new role.
Soon he was compared to Frenchman Patrick Vieira because of his ability to go from box to box. In 2002/2003 season he helped Bastia qualify for the UEFA Cup. He scored six goals that season. He became physically stronger and a harder tackler. Soon Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille made offers for him. He was not only popular in France, but also in England. Both major Merseyside teams, Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C., made offers for him.

Olympique Lyonnais

PSG made the best offer and Bastia accepted it, but Essien rejected the contract, and instead agreed terms with Lyon. At Lyon, Essien played a more defensive midfield role, featuring regularly in the Lyon team that won the third and fourth of their current string of six consecutive Ligue 1 titles. He was also voted the 2005 Player of the Year by France's National Union of Professional Footballers (UNFP).

In August 2005, Essien declared that he would "go on strike" against Lyon because of the club's refusal to accept a transfer bid for him from English Premiership champions Chelsea F.C.. It was announced on 14 August that Lyon and Chelsea had agreed a British pound26m fee for the Ghanaian, finally ending one of the longest running transfer sagas in recent English football history. Essien is now Chelsea's second most expensive signing after the club signed Ukraine national football team forward and captain Andriy Shevchenko from A.C. Milan on 22 May, 2006.

Chelsea

The Transfer (football) went through on 19 August, purportedly for a slightly reduced fee of £24.4m nevertheless breaking Chelsea's previous record transfer fee, which they achieved the previous season by paying £24m for Olympique Marseille's Didier Drogba. He made his debut against Arsenal F.C] on August 21, wearing the number 5 on his shirt. He soon cemented his place in José Mourinho's side, starting the majority of the league games since his debut. He made an assist in his full debut against West Bromwich Albion F.C], and he replaced the injured Claude Makélélé in the defensive midfield role against Sunderland A.F.C] in the 2-0 win on September 10, 2005. The Chelsea midfield looks to have been strengthened by the powerful, athletic Essien, who could well form part of the Chelsea midfield with Frank Lampard for years to come.

On 15 December, he was handed a 2-match ban by UEFA for a controversial tackle on Dietmar Hamann, which resulted in his suspension from Chelsea's UEFA Champions League second round tie with eventual European champions F.C. Barcelona. Chelsea lost the two-legged tie, 3-2 on aggregate. Essien apologised to Hamann for the challenge (Hamann publicly accepted the apology) and insists that while he desires to be perceived as a player who 'unsettles' opponents, he is not a malicious or unsporting player. In January 2006, Essien was himself stretchered off the field, the victim of a poor challenge from West Ham United captain Nigel Reo-Coker, which sidelined him for three weeks.

Essien scored his first goal for Chelsea in March 2006, in a 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. His second goal came on 17 April 2006 against Everton with a powerful strike after an assertive burst through the defensive line. Essien ended his debut season in England with two goals, both in the Premier League. However, the arrival of midfielders Michael Ballack from Bayern München and John Obi Mikel from F.C. Lyn Oslo brought stiffer competition for places at Chelsea.

On September 12 2006, Essien scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Chelsea in a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen of Germany. Undeniably his most memorable strike for Chelsea was the [owerful, curling equalizer] against Arsenal F.C. on December 10, 2006 from approximately 35 yards. The spectacular strike sent the home crowd into uproar. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Essien receiving the Man of the Match. Later in the same season [ssien scored an equally dramatic late winner] in the Champions League quarter-final against Valencia CF at the Estadio Mestalla. Running down the wing from his position at right-back he smashed an effort past Santiago Cañizares' at his near post to send Chelsea through to the semi-finals with a 1-2 victory on the night, and 2-3 win on aggregate. It was his first match back in the team after several weeks out with a knee injury. Later in a post-match interview, when asked how he felt about the win, he said he thought his team deserved the three points, despite it being a European Semi-Final.

Essien was nominated for the 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year Award on October 12, 2006. One week later, he was nominated for the 2006 Ballon d'Or. He was also nominated for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year Award as well. He placed 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year and 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He was voted as the 3rd Best African Footballer of the Year in 2006, a feat he achieved in 2005 as well. He won the 2006 BBC African footballer of the year award. Essien recently renewed his contract with Chelsea until 2012.

On 15 May 2007, Essien was voted as Chelsea F.C. Chelsea_F.C. Player_of_the_year for the 2006-07 Season by the fans, becoming the first African to receive the honour. His goal against Arsenal F.C. was also voted as Chelsea F.C. Goal of the Season 2006-07.

His transfer from Olympique Lyonnais to Chelsea F.C. in August 2005 is one of those about which the 2006_allegations_of_corruption_in_English_football Stevens_report report in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents Pinhas Zahavi and Barry Silkman .

On August 13 2007, Essien grabbed the winner with his first goal of the Premier League 2007-08 campaign, as Chelsea defeated Birmingham City F.C., to set an English record for unbeaten league matches at home - eclipsing Liverpool F.C.'s previous top-flight record of 63, which Bob Paisley's team set between 1978 and 1981.

International career

In 2001, even though he was one of the youngest players in the tournament, he took part in the Football World Youth Championship in Argentina, and performed exceptionally well. He made his Ghana national football team senior debut in the 2002 African Nations Cup against Morocco national football team on 21 January, 2002.

On 16 May, 2006, Essien was selected to be part of the team that represented Ghana at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He played in midfield with team captain Stephen Appiah of Fenerbahçe and Sulley Ali Muntari of Portsmouth F.C]. Essien played in Ghana's 0-2 defeat to Italy national football team, their 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic national football team, and the 2-1 victory over the United States men's national soccer team, and helped Ghana become the only African team to reach the second round of the 2006 World Cup. However, Essien was suspended for Ghana's second round match against Brazil national football team and could only watch as Ghana lost 0-3.

Upon the team's return to Ghana, Essien said that the team had gained invaluable experience and will be aiming to make the next finals, which will be held in Africa for the first time in the tournament's history at South Africa 2010.

Honours

Club

SC Bastia
- French Cup finalist: 2002

Olympique Lyon
- French Ligue 1 Winner: Ligue 1 season 2003/2004, Ligue 1 season 2004/2005

Chelsea F.C.
- FA Premier League Winner: FA Premier League 2005-06
- Football League Cup Winner: Football League Cup Final 2007
- FA Cup Winner: FA Cup Final 2007

National team

- 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship 3rd Place: 1999
- FIFA World Youth Championship Runner-up: 2001

Individual

- FIFA World Player of the Year - 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year, 2006 FIFA World Player of the Year
- Ballon d'Or - [2nd 2005], [7th 2006]
- African Footballer of the Year - [rd 2005], [rd 2006]
- [005 French Player of the Year]
- [006 BBC African Footballer of the Year] - [inner]
- [1th Best CAF African Player of All-Time]
- [AF's Africa Top 50 Best Players of All-Time] - Nomination
- FIFA Player of the Game: [006 Fifa World Cup Ghana vs. Czech Republic]
- The Most Expensive Summer Transfer of 2005 [from Lyon to Chelsea]
- The Most Expensive African Footballer of all-time [€38M]
- FIFA All-Star Midfielder
- BBC African player of the year for 2006/2007.
- [n the Cover of FIFA Magazine May 2006]
- [006 CAF African All-Star Midfielder]
- 2006-2007 Chelsea F.C] Player of the Season
- 2006-2007 Chelsea F.C] Goal of the Season ( [ome v Arsenal, 10 Dec 06] )

Quotes

- Former England national football team and West Ham United F.C. star Trevor Brooking insists Michael Essien has not received the recognition he deserves this (2006/07) season and claims the Ghana national football team midfielder holds the key to Chelsea F.C]'s FA Cup final hopes. 'Personally, the player who I think has been fantastic is Essien. He's brilliant,' he said. 'Because of injury he's often had to play at centre back, right back and sometimes even as a makeshift right winger. 'He's an individual that will play a big part if Chelsea win the 2007 FA Cup. 'Cristiano Ronaldo is a great player but in my opinion Essien could also have been named Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.' [The first things that people see about Michael is his energy and tackling, and they classify him as a holding midfielder, a destroyer type of player. What they don't often realise is that he can also be very dangerous going forward. His positioning to receive the ball is very good, and he knows when and where to place a pass." - Former Olympique Lyonnais manager Paul Le Guen on his former player.

- "Essien is a great player. He can play every position in midfield. Where he is perfect in choices. In football, the most difficult thing is to choose well, and in every situation he chooses well. He presses, stays in position, passes long, passes short, first touch, two touches. He controls the pace of the game, fast or slow. He is midfield multifunctional, he is dynamic and strong. The boy has incredible physical power, he is super resistant with great speed and unending tactical abilities." - Chelsea F.C] Coach José Mourinho on his midfielder in [ay 2006 FIFA Magazine]

- FIFA.com says [Essien, Lyon's quietly rampaging buffalo"]

- The Guardian says [Essien: The very model of a modern midfield general"]

- France Football says [Essien, l'incontournable]

- Interview in [IFA Magazine, May 2006](pdf)

Notes and references