CHELSEA and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has been ruled out of the Fifa World Cup due to injury.

CHELSEA and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien has been ruled out of the Fifa World Cup due to injury.

The 27-year-old missed a large part of the recently concluded season due to knee and ankle injuries and has played hardly any competitive football since January.

National coach Milovan Rajevac had hoped the former Lyon man would be fit for the showpiece tournament in South Africa this summer, but the Ghana Football Association announced yesterday he was not expected to be back in action until the end of July.

The Ghana Football Association wished him a full recovery and a quick return to football action.

Essien has been recovering from a knee injury picked up at the Confederation of African Football's Africa Cup of Nations duty in Angola in January. Ghana, who will be making their second appearance at the Fifa World Cup finals, are in Group D alongside Germany, Serbia and Australia. They open their campaign against Serbia on June 13. - fifa.com