Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has been ruled out of the World Cup finals in South Africa after failing to recover from a knee injury sustained whilst representing his country during the African Cup of Nations. He has been advised to rest until July. His participation for Ghana has been in doubt since the start of the year when he played in the initial stages of the African continental tournament despite struggling with a hamstring injury. The player had prepared himself for the blow and had said “If I make it for the World Cup then great – if not I have my whole career ahead of me”.