Essien’s last appearance for Ghana back in September 2008 ended in tears after only 20 minutes against Libya and six months on the sidelines after damaging his knee ligaments but the star of the Ghana team is back and he says enjoying his football again. The Chelsea star told KickOffGhana.com of how much he wants to help Ghana reach another world cup, why the Stars must take Benin serious and the difficulty in his long injury lay-off. “It was a difficult and long road back from injury but I am very happy to be back and enjoying my football again,” he said. Much of the build up for Ghana’s game against Benin has been built around Essien and on Wednesday as he emerged from the team hotel to training was cheered about a 500 fans who have made it a daily ritual to camp out just before the team heads for training. Essien says those scenes are a constant reminder to the Ghana players of why they must send the country to another World Cup. “After a long period out, we played in the last world cup and brought so much joy to this country so we the players want to do it all over again.” Mali have been singled out as the biggest threat to Ghana’s appearance at South Africa 2010, but Essien feels all three opponents present unique challenges. Benin, Mali and Sudan will all be difficult games but we must make the most of our home advantage beginning on Sunday. “I am expecting a difficult game because Benin have very good players. But even though I cannot predict the scoreline I am very sure about the fact that we will win.”
Essien wants perfect start
