2014 World Cup: Ghana coach to try Michael Essien in defence against South Korea

Published on: 07 June 2014
2014 World Cup: Ghana coach to try Michael Essien in defence against South Korea
Michael Essien

By Rahman Osman

Follow Rahman on Twitter: @iamrahmanosman

Ghana coach Kwesi Appiah will explore the option of playing Michael Essien in central defence in their final warm-up friendly South Korea on Monday.

Appiah named only three central backs in his six defenders penned in the final 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals.

Concerns have been raised on the lack of experience in the defensive unit and the lack of adequate back up in case of suspensions and injuries.

Essien has been mooted as a possible makeshift central defender if the need be.

“Essien has been training as a defender with the team for the past couple of days,” an insider told GHANASoccernet.com

“The coach has thought of giving him a run out as a central defender to see how he will respond in big game.

“The team will head back to training at 10:30 am U.S time to continue preparation where I am sure the coach will make up his mind on him but as at yesterdays training he was used as a defender.”

Ghana lost 1-0 to the Netherlands in their first test match and will aim for an improved performance against the Asians.

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