International: John Terry vs Essien on 29th March?
Michael Essien
By Peterking Quaye – With barley six days to go for the clash of the year between one of the historic African team in recent times . Speculations in Ghana still have it that Micheal Essien will coming up against his team mate John Terry.
After the Chelsea’s defender John Terry was restored to the England captaincy and will lead Fabio Capello’s men against Ghana, according to the Mailonline.
The 31-year-old was stripped off the Three Lions’ leadership post after he was embroiled in a sex scandal in February last year. But with Steve Gerrard, who was swapped for the arm-band, set to miss both the Wales and Ghana clash this month, Fabio Capello will by-pass un-fit Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand and hand the captaincy to Terry.
But reports say he will not tell Ferdinand that he has lost his job as England until the double header looms closer.
Capello wants to talk to the players involved first, but spoke to the media for the first time about the subject.“I think after one year of punishment that is enough for a mistake,” he said.
“For this reason, I need to make a decision about this problem. It does not need to be captain for one game, it needs to be permanent. Before I announce a decision I want to speak with Terry, with the players, but in the end it will be my decision. “Rio was captain, but my first captain was John Terry. Rio was a good captain, so was Steven Gerrard, but I selected Terry first until his mistake.”
Despite the team list circulating at the moment have it as and sources closed to shout-afric.com has revealed that Sunderland libero John Mensah has stated categorically that national team mate, Michael Essien’s return to the Black Stars is in sight.
According to John, the Chelsea player has hinted that he will like to be in the national colours when Ghana cross swords with their colonial masters, England at Wembley on March 29.
However, the list of players called up by Black Stars coach Goran Stevanovic for the match does not include the name of Essien. Essien’s decision for a national sabbatical has generated heated debates among the entire sporting fraternity with some questioning his patriotism, while others have called for his total banishment from the Black Stars.
But Black Stars skipper, John Mensah has appealed to the lovers of the sport to exercise restraint for the ace midfielder’s return.
“Let’s give Essien some time, he will definitely come back fully at the right time. He has been there for the nation over a decade,” he said on Black Stars Radio on Happy FM.
“He started with me in Mali 2002, all I can say regarding his return to the national team is that he has given me his word that he will play in the England Ghana friendly.
“Essien loves his country, we have to rally behind him and give him our support and encouragement,” he added.
“The England game is not a big deal, we have played big sides like Brazil and the rest. Moreover, we have good players, so we are not scared of the March 29 clash,” was his response to the enormity of the international friendly.
He however cautioned that the team should focus on the Congo-Ghana Nations Cup qualifier rather than the friendly game. Below is the Ghana squad for the double header against Congo and England on March 27 and 29 respectively.
Goalkeepers: Richard Kingson (Blackpool, England), Sammy Adjei (Hearts of Oak, Ghana) Ernest Sowah (Berekum Chelsea, Ghana)
Defenders: John Paintsil (Fulham, England) Samuel Inkoom (Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) Daniel Opare (Standard Liege, Belgium) David Addy (Academica Coimbra, Portugal) Jonathan Mensah (Granada, Spain) Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim, Germany) John Mensah (Sunderland, England) Lee Addy (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia)
Midfielders: Anthony Annan (Schalke 04, Germany), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Udinese, Italy), Bernard Kumordzi (Panionios, Greece) Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese, Italy) Sulley Muntari (Sunderland, England) Derek Boateng (Getafe, Spain) Kevin-Prince Boateng (AC Milan, Italy) Andre Ayew (Marseille, France) Opoku Agyemang (Al-Ahli, Saudi Arabia)
Attackers: Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland, England) Prince Tagoe (Partizan Belgrade, Serbia) Dominic Adiyiah (Partizan Belgrade, Serbia) Nathaniel Asamoah (Asante Kotoko, Ghana)
Ghana play England for the first time in the history of the West Africans at the Wembley Stadium later this month.
