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
2016 African Cross Country Championships race had 33 finishers, making a total of 151 competitors. The competition had reduced international participation, with only 16 nations sending athletes – eight fewer than had done so in 2014. 2016 African Cross Country Championships The 2016 African Cross Country Championships was the fourth edition of the international cross country running competition for African athletes organised by the Confederation of African Athletics. It was held on 12 March at the Yaounde Golf Club in Yaoundé, Cameroon – the first time a West African nation had hosted the event since its re-launch in 2011. There were four races on the