Tearful Essien believes Stars to shine without him

Nuremberg, June 23, GNA - Tearful Michael Essien misses Ghana's next game against Brazil on Tuesday, believing his colleagues would shine without him. The creative midfielder picked his second card in two games in the last group game against the United States of America in Nuremberg on Thursday and has been ruled out of the knockout stage where his services would have come handy.

Essien who turned emotional after the game said: "It's sad and very difficult for me to accept that I will be missing this game. "But that is not the end of the world. I believe in the abilities of my colleagues and know for a fact that we have the players to carry on with the fight with or without me." The Chelsea's midfielder reiterated the team's conviction that they could succeed as a unit. He said he was convinced that the Stars would shine after outclassing the Czech Republic and USA ranked second and fifth respectively when they came up against the hugely favoured Brazilians in Dortmund on Tuesday.

Essien was tagged as the player to watch by the bookmakers and his exclusion is expected to cause a major vacuum in the midfield he hads handled without blemish so far. Essien picked his first caution in the opening game against Italy, which the Stars lost 0-2. The player scored four times in eight appearances during the qualifiers where his superiority proved decisive game after game. Meanwhile, coach Ratomir Djukovic would have the luxury of parading his dreadful duo of Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Ali Muntari who missed Thursday' game on suspension.