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
African Cross Country Championships West Africa competing". A number of smaller regional championships have been held in Africa: the East African Cross Country Championships and the Maghreb Cross Country Championships in North Africa are both well-established competitions. West and Central African competitions have also been held in past years. African Cross Country Championships The African Cross Country Championships is a regional cross country running competition for athletes from Africa. The competition had a one off edition in 1985 in Nairobi, Kenya, and the medallists were mostly from the host nation. Following an announcement by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that the IAAF