As has become customary, Michael Essien has blogged for chelseafc.com and the full text can be read here or on his personal website.
This month's blog is on the anticipation surrouding the Ghana-England friendly.
Hello everyone, I wasn't sure what I should blog about this month until Ghana turned Wembley into a mini Accra on March 29. I have never seen this many Ghanaians in one place in the UK before and I have to admit it had never dawned on me that there were that many of us in the UK.
There were 20,000-plus Ghanaians at Wembley and friends tell me there were more than that number who just couldn’t get tickets. I am also reliably informed that it’s the biggest away crowd for a friendly game at Wembley.
The build-up to the game in England was subdued and I know some commentators called it an unwanted friendly but in Ghana it was totally different and quite the opposite. Many people flew in from Ghana to watch the Black Stars take on the 'mighty' England. A lot of them would have been disappointed to see some of the household names like JT, Ashley and Frank not in the squad but the carnival atmosphere and fantastic game made up for that disappointment.
For Ghanaians this game was a big deal and the media write-ups and radio phone-ins proved that. As soon as the game was announced, Ghanaians went into overdrive about it and I will tell you why.
For my friends who didn’t know, Ghana used to be a British colony until 1957 so that 'big brother' effect is always in the background. I am not for one suggesting England is superior in some shape or form. I am only saying the friendship ties go way back and so do the rivalries in certain sectors. Any chance to get one over England in sports is always a big deal for all Ghanaians due to the colonial ties.
It doesn't matter at what level the sporting activity is taking place - as long as it’s against England we always want to show we are as good and in some cases even better. About two years or so ago at junior level, when Ghana beat England 4 - 0 a lot was made of the build-up and result in Ghana.
Ghana had never played England at senior level before so this added the extra bite in that most Ghanaians felt it was a chance to show our old friends, and some will say former colonial masters, that we have come a long way and can be as good if not better than them
This game was also a big deal because England is ranked higher than Ghana in the Fifa world rankings and even though the Black Stars shone brighter than the Three Lions at the last World Cup, the Ghanaian team wanted to show that we can play the higher ranked teams and come out unscathed. It almost felt like we had something to prove.
Also, Ghana is known as the Brazil of Africa and so anywhere we pitch up we have to show that we can party, have a carnival and play some Samba style football. At Wembley on Tuesday, the partying and the carnival was in full swing by the time the game kicked off and there were glimpses of the samba soccer, especially in the second half. The colour and atmosphere were excellent and the game was played in a friendly manner on and off the pitch. If we had been allowed to take our full brass band ensemble to the game, it would have been even better.
Anyone who watched the game saw a very competitive friendly. The England side didn’t have their household names but believe you me there were no second rate players on the field - all first class players. Wilshire, Defoe, Hart, Cahill and Co are all established top Premier League players. They gave everything and so did the Black Stars and in the end it was a fair result with good entertainment. The fans were the winners and I am hearing talk of a rematch in Ghana in the future.
I hope you all enjoyed the game as much as I did. It was an historic moment and Ghanaians went home feeling they are as good as some of the top sides in the world - just as we proved at the World Cup.
Finally, I found out at the game that Arthur Wharton (28 October 1865 – 13 December 1930) was the first player of African descent to play professional football. He was born in Jamestown, Gold Coast (now Accra, Ghana), and I am doing what he did over 100 years ago.
ESS