Michael Essien was widely tipped to be one of Africa's next rising stars. Essien made his competitive senior debut in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations against Morocco on 21 January 2002. but had played for Ghana in a pre-tournament friendly against Egypt on 4 January 2002. On 16 May 2006, Essien was selected to be part of the team that represented Ghana at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He played in midfield with team captain Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari. Essien played in Ghana's 0–2 defeat to Italy, their 2–0 victory over the Czech Republic, and the 2–1 victory
Michael Essien on an interim basis until the end of the season. Di Matteo immediately showed favour towards veteran Chelsea players like Essien, Lampard and John Terry. Subsequently, Essien started in Chelsea's second leg champions league fixture against Napoli, with Chelsea winning 4–1 – and 5–4 on aggregate – in an entertaining match allowing Chelsea to advance to the quarter-final, where they met Benfica. Essien subsequently remained an unused substitute in Chelsea's Champions League run, culminating in "the Blues"' victory over Bayern Munich in the final, making Chelsea the first London-based club to win the title. On 31 August 2012, Essien signed