Michael Essien Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (sometimes written in French: Michaël Essien) (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian professional footballer. He has also been capped for the Ghana national team more than 50 times. Essien started his career playing for Liberty Professionals in Ghana. In 2000, he moved to France to join Bastia, where he would spend three seasons and appear in over 60 matches before joining Ligue 1 title holders Lyon in 2003. At Lyon, Essien won back-to-back league titles in 2003–04 and 2004–05 and also played in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. During his five-year
Sub-Saharan Africa years. South Africa hosted the 2010 FIFA World Cup, a first for a Sub-Saharan country. In 2010, Cameroon played in the World Cup for the sixth time, which is the current record for a Sub-Saharan team. In 1996 Nigeria won the Olympic gold for football. In 2000 Cameroon maintained the continent's supremacy by winning the title too. Momentous achievements for Sub-Saharan African football. Famous Sub-Saharan football stars include Abedi Pele, Emmanuel Adebayor, George Weah, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Roger Milla, Nwankwo Kanu, Jay-Jay Okocha, Bruce Grobbelaar, Samuel Eto'o, Kolo Touré, Yaya Touré, Sadio Mané and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The most talented