Michael Essien biography: Ghana Footballer

Michael Essien biography

Ghana football player

Soccer player

Playing position Defensive/Central/Right midfielder
Right Back/Center Back

Career

App (Gls)

Sporting Club de Bastia 65 (11)
Olympique Lyonnais 68 (8)
Chelsea 63 (4)

Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league 6 May 2007

Ghana 25 (5) National team caps and goals correct February 11, 2006

Michael Essien, born December 3, 1982 in Accra, is a Ghanaian International footballer. Has played for Chelsea in the English Premier League. Is an all action box to box 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 local club Liberty Professionals FC. He broke through when he played in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship in New Zealand. This led to attention from European scouts.

SC Bastia
In July 1999, French 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 his teammates, he was given a temporary opportunity to play in central midfield. Essien flourished in the 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 in the 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 and Everton, 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 in the Lyon team that won a 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 he would go on strike against Lyon because of the club's refusal to accept a bid for him from English Premiership champions Chelsea. It was announced on 14 August that Lyon and Chelsea had agreed a £26m fee for the Ghanaian, finally ending one of the longest running transfer sagas in English football history. Essien is now Chelsea's second most expensive signing after the club signed Ukraine forward and captain Andriy Shevchenko from A.C. Milan on 22 May 2006.

Chelsea
The transfer 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 previous season by paying £24m for Olympique Marseille's Didier Drogba. He made his debut against Arsenal F.C. on August 21, wearing 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 a defensive midfield role against Sunderland in the 2-0 win on September 10, 2005. The Chelsea midfield was strengthened by the powerful, athletic Essien, who as part of the Chelsea midfield with Frank Lampard.

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 while he desires to be perceived as a player who 'unsettles' opponents, he is not a malicious or unsporting. 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 a 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 Lyn Oslo brought competition for places in 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 powerful, curling equalizer against Arsenal 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 Essien scored an equally dramatic late winner in the Champions League quarter-final against Valencia at the 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 with a knee injury.

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. He placed 22nd in 2005 and 22nd in 2006 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.

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

On 16 May, 2006, Essien was selected to be part of the team to represent Ghana at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He played in midfield with captain Stephen Appiah (Fenerbahçe) and Sulley Ali Muntari of (Udinese). Essien played in Ghana's 0-2 defeat to Italy, their 2-0 victory over the Czech Republic, and the 2-1 victory over the US, and helped Ghana become the only African team to reach the second round of the 2006 World Cup. Essien was suspended for Ghana's second round match against Brazil and could only watch as Ghana lost 0-3.

Upon the team's return to Ghana, Essien said 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.

Brentford
Honours
Club
French Cup with SC Bastia Runner-up- 2002
French Ligue 1 with Olympique Lyon Winner- 2003/04, 2004/05
FA Premier League with Chelsea F.C Winner- 2006
English League Cup with Chelsea F.C Winner- 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 - 22nd 2005, 22nd 2006
Ballon d'Or - 22nd 2005, 27th 2006
African Footballer of the Year - 3rd 2005, 3rd 2006
2005 French Player of the Year
2006 BBC African Footballer of the Year - Winner
11th Best CAF African Player of All-Time
CAF's Africa Top 50 Best Players of All-Time - Nomination
FIFA Player of the Game: 2006 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
On the Cover of FIFA Magazine May 2006
2006 BBC African Footballer of the Year award - Winner
2006 CAF African All-Star Midfielder

Accra, population 1,970,400 (2005), is the capital of Ghana. It is Ghana's largest city and its administrative, communications, and economic center. The primary economic activities are financial and government services, communications, construction, transportation and agriculture (particularly fishing)

Soccer player

Misspell

Esien Essin Ezien sien

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