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 challenge, stating that while he desires to be perceived as a player who "unsettles" opponents, he was not a malicious or an unsporting player; Hamann publicly accepted Essien's apology. In January 2006, Essien was himself stretchered off the field after a challenge from West Ham United captain Nigel Reo-Coker, and was sidelined for three weeks. Essien scored his first goal for Chelsea from a low cross from Shaun Wright-Phillips on 11 March 2006, in a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. His second goal came on 17 April 2006, against Everton with a powerful strike after an assertive burst through the