SOCCER:MICHAEL ESSIEN is due back in London in the next 48 hours amid fears the Chelsea midfielder has torn the medial ligament in his left knee. He will miss at least six weeks if that is confirmed, ruling him out of next month's potentially critical derby against Arsenal and the first leg of the Champions League tie against Internazionale.
The 27-year-old injured the knee on Sunday in training with the Ghana squad at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. A preliminary assessment undertaken by the national federation’s medical staff suggested Essien had partially torn the medial ligament and damaged the meniscus in the joint, though Chelsea will conduct their own scans once the player reports back to Cobham, most likely on Thursday, with the results due the following day.
A despondent Essien is desperate to learn the extent of the damage suffered when he slipped while passing to a team-mate in training. Chelsea will be hugely concerned at the prospect of being without the dynamic midfielder, in particular for the games against Arsenal – who could usurp them at the top of the Premier League if they beat Bolton by two goals at home tomorrow – on February 7th and against Internazionale and Jose Mourinho at San Siro on February 24th.
Carlo Ancelotti had been resigned to Essien’s absence until the Arsenal game. Although Chelsea were publicly comfortable with their midfielder’s participation in Angola, his involvement still represented something of a surprise given he had not played since tearing a hamstring against Apoel Nicosia in early December and had resumed full training only on January 6th. Juliano Belletti excelled as a makeshift defensive midfielder during Saturday’s 7-2 victory over Sunderland, though sterner tests than that lie ahead.
Yesterday hosts Angola and Algeria qualified for the quarter-finals after playing out a goalless draw in their final Group A match.
Angola top the standings with five points and will stay in the capital for the weekend’s quarter-final. Algeria also qualified thanks to tournament rules that take into account head-to-head record despite finishing tied on four points with Mali, who were 3-1 winners over Malawi yesterday. Algeria beat Mali 1-0 last week.
