Michael Essien his power-packed performances. In the quarter-final against Nigeria, when team captain John Mensah was dismissed on the stroke of the hour for a professional foul on Nigeria's Peter Odemwingie, Essien assumed the captaincy for the remainder of the match as Ghana eventually won 2–1. He was voted as an All-Star Player during the tournament. The Team of the Tournament was decided by the Technical Study Group (TSG) after careful observations of all the tournament's matches. During an international match played against Libya on 5 September 2008, Essien ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Ghana in the World Cup qualification
Enefiok Essien of Laws. In 1998 he obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in law from University Birmingham, England. He is a lawyer, professor of law and the current Vice Chancellor of University of Uyo. In 2005, he was indicted by the Court of Appeal, Calabar of sexual misconduct against a student after expulsion from Uniuyo. During the period of the incident Enefiok Essien who was the invigilator and also head of the examination malpractice panel allegedly swayed vote against the female student involved. The court of appeal after asking Enefiok to swear an affidavit to counter the student's accusation refused, with accusations