Michael Essien recover from his knee injury until the end of July, more than two weeks after the tournament was to end. Since then, Essien has announced that he will be standing down from the Ghana national side for the near future in order to focus on his career with Chelsea, having suffered two significant injuries while playing for Ghana in recent years. Having recovered from those injuries, Essien subsequently promised his availability to his nation "very soon". Essien returned to Ghana's squad in August 2013 for the team's final 2014 World Cup qualifiers. He appeared as a second-half substitute in a
Michael Essien meniscus, undergoing surgery on 11 July 2011. His recovery was said to take up to six months. However, he began training lightly in late November 2011 and made his comeback on 9 January 2012, playing 75 minutes of the reserves' 3–2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion. He made his 150th Premier League appearance for Chelsea as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Sunderland. On 21 January 2012, Essien featured as late substitute in Chelsea's 0–0 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road. Due to missing most of the beginning half of the 2011–12 Premier League season, Essien was unable