Today was different. He gets to defend himself unlike other times when fans had tried him in absentia and conveniently pronounced him guilty. He was shaken out of his reverie when the case was called.
In an instant, he felt his muscles tightening. He found it very unnerving, but then again it was a necessary evil. He had to clear his name. He had been shocked at the outrage after he refuted claims that he was returning for impending Ghana (Black Stars) matches against Congo on March 26 and England on March 29 this year.
This was after he spoke to new Black Stars’ coach Goran Stevanovic about returning from self imposed retirement. He re-emphasized that he would only return when he felt ready.
Unpatriotic! Arrogant! The invectives poured like heavy rain. Indeed, it was easy for Ghanaian fans to point accusing fingers; after all, they could point to several antecedents that questioned Essien’s loyalty to his nation.
A Case of disloyalty:
While many thoughts rummaged his mind, the state attorney proceeded to indict him. ‘My Lord, we would not waste time on this case. It is quite straightforward. We have incontrovertible evidence that Michael Essien loves Chelsea FC more than Ghana and he is simply not a patriot.
In 1999, Michael Essien was offered a huge platform to advertise his talent when Ghana took him to the U-17 World Cup in New Zealand. Ghana picked Bronze and Essien who played in defense definitely caught the eye of several football scouts. Subsequently in 2000, young Essien joined Bastia in France where he was converted to a defensive midfielder.
He later moved on to Lyon and then finally transferred to Chelsea in 2005 for a then record fee (£24.4 million) for an African footballer. Essien’s progression has been steady since and we are in no doubt he is a fantastic footballer.
However we would prove by recounting several incidents including the latest hiatus to establish that Essien’s loyalty lies in the land of the Queen rather than the land of gold.
In 2004, when the country needed him to play in the Athens Olympic Games, he boldly asked to be left out because Lyon needed him more. All the stars including then national captain Stephen Appiah sacrificed and showed up in Athens.
On the eve of the 2006 Nations Cup in Egypt, Essien was reported injured but then got back to action 5 days after Ghana got eliminated in the first round.
In November 2009, after playing against Mali in the final qualifier for the World Cup in South Africa 2010, Essien in the company of two other players skipped a trip to Angola for a friendly without permission.
Come January the following year, he was welcomed back to the team for the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola. Here again, Essien came in for a lot of flak and it only reinforced questions about his patriotism.
Andre Ayew had scored a vital goal against Burkina Faso saving Ghana from elimination and ensuring Ghana qualified for the quarter finals. While many Ghanaians celebrated that goal, a certain player missing the game through injury and watching from the stands, apparently was more interested in sending messages on his cell phone and showed little emotion. Essien’s reputation further deteriorated after this.
My Lord, the latest incident concerning Essien’s insistence that he would only return to the Black Stars at his prerogative and not for the impending games later this month has stretched the nation’s patience very thin.
Due to a long layoff in 2010 resulting from the injury he aggravated while on duty at the Nations Cup in Angola, the FA on behalf of the good people of this country granted Essien permission to stay out of the team. It was hoped that he would entrench his position at Chelsea and return in good time.
However his latest position smacks of unpatriotism and arrogance especially considering that playing for your country is not a favour but a privilege and an honour. If Essien had any sense of honour he would rather retire permanently and stop taking this nation for a ride.
With such evidence, I know members of the jury have absolutely no doubts in their minds that Michael Essien is unpatriotic and has betrayed the nation’s trust.
My Lord, I rest my case!
A case of personal security:
Michael Essien’s counsel immediately leapt to make his defense. My lord, everything said by my learned friend is true but Michael Essien definitely did not fake those injuries. Indeed, it’s these injuries that have hampered his progress the past 2 years.
He is just a victim of circumstances more than anything else. Essien got injured playing for Ghana against Lybia on September 5, 2008. And again at the Nations Cup in Angola in January 2010 he got injured.
As a result of that injury, Essien missed Chelsea’s double trophy winning season and the 2010 World Cup.
My Lord, that time was most traumatic for him, the injury took a rather long time to heal. He finally recovered and returned to action this season.
My lord, being human, Essien thought long and hard and made a decision that considering the length he had spent off the pitch, it was only wise that he broke in gently rather than combine playing for both Chelsea and the Black Stars.
He made the difficult decision to retire temporally to regain his form which when he did would eventually rub off the national team.
Indeed, that was the plan but unfortunately things have been very patchy for Chelsea and the season has rather taken a great toll on hardworking Essien.
He is not fully settled in his mind and a little weary coming back at this time, besides the same Ghanaian fans would not spare him if he played for the Stars half heartedly by avoiding tackles and not putting in his all.
In fact, it will bring to nought all his previous contributions to the national team.
I hope Ghanaians haven’t forgotten Essien’s contribution to the Starlets 1999 bronze medal winning team, the Satellites 2001 World U-20 silver winning team, his contribution to Ghana’s first World Cup qualification in Germany 2006. He even scored a vital goal in Johannesburg when Ghana won that crucial decider against South Africa. Did he not contribute to the Black Stars’ winning bronze medal on home soil at Ghana 2008? Did he not introduce the kangaroo dance that we all fell in love with after scoring against Morroco? Then again, how can you forget his contribution to Ghana’s consecutive World Cup qualification as he influenced Ghana’s back to back away victories against Mali and Sudan in June 2009 which more or less claimed the World Cup ticket?
Now, knowing how his image had suffered and even though he was not fully fit, Essien threw caution to the wind and joined the team in Angola just after returning from an injury he sustained in December 2009 playing for Chelsea in a Uefa Champions League game.
Essien risked because he knew the conspiracy theorist would go to work if he pulled out. Unfortunately in Angola, he picked up a career threatening injury. How much more can a man prove his loyalty?
My lord, Michael Essien is only asking for time off until he is physically, psychologically and spiritually ready to face the enormous demands of representing Ghana.
So, members of the jury, in making your decision, I pray you to carefully consider giving our dear brother and son, Michael Essien, the benefit of the doubt.
He desperately made this decision for both his personal and the national interest, because knowing the value of playing for one’s country, he is reluctant to retire permanently yet he is also weary of not giving a hundred percent while on the pitch.
Counsel paused and allowed his closing comments to sink in and walked back to his seat.
The verdict
The recap above is not real but is a trial that has taken place and would continue to take place in the minds of numerous Ghanaian soccer fans.
I bet you have even tried Essien already in your mind, what was the verdict Mr. juror?