Don't mind the face. Sadness all around as Essien sits

Breaking news, breaking news!!! Michael Essien is going to miss the world cup. Oh. You heard? So that must have been what all the silence was about. Talk about hearing a pin drop while church mice remained quiet. If you took the news like I took it then your day was ruined. As one of my facebook friends put it, “We are (fill in the blank)”- to be said at a high decibel. And then you went looking for the faintest of silver linings. Well, I guess it’s better we know now. It’s early enough that we can adjust. We did well without him in the African Nations Cup. We have capable players. Essien hasn’t played since January so we weren’t going to get his best anyways, a sentiment I heard from a fan on radio. No worries, we are still going to shock the world, a sentiment expressed best by another facebook friend in a letter to the nation.

“Dear Ghana, make u no shiver! Black Stars without Essien is like a man with one ball (no pun intended). We may not be complete, but we can still make babies on the green grass. Yes, Germany, Australia and Serbia will still call us “Daddy”. The oracle has spoken! :)”

Bad news discombobulates some people so forgive his trending to the uncouth albeit imaginative.

But it all kept coming back to the same thing. Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There’s no way to minimize Essien’s absence. A few weeks ago, I outlined Essien’s importance in this post. But I never in my wildest dreams thought he would miss the world cup. Where do we go from here? How do we adjust and who should we look to to fill his HUMONGOUS shoes? These are all questions my mourning period does not allow me to tackle immediately. Feel free to air your thoughts though.