Kickoff (Cape Town)
30 August 2008
There are fresh concerns about the fitness of Michael Essien ahead of Ghana's World Cup qualifier against Libya in Tripoli on Friday.
The Black Stars midfielder was back on the Chelsea injury list this week and could miss their crunch meeting with London rivals Tottenham Hotspurs at Stanford Bridge on Sunday.
But it is the potential ramification of that for the all-important 2010 qualifier in Tripoli that will have new Stars coach Milovan Rajevac worried.
The Serbian will need his key men available but Essien is back on the Chelsea injury list after playing through the pain against Wigan last Sunday.
"I lost one or two players more for this game," Scolari said. "After the last game I said some players played because they wanted to help the Chelsea team. They are not only players, they are men."
"I need play players out of position, to rearrange players, because two or three midfielders have injuries. My problems are Ballack and Essien."
Essien's progress will be watched closely in Accra and across Ghana with Libya to come in less than a week and with three key men already lost to the treatment room.
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