Former Ghanaian international, Michael Essien has disclosed most of the bad injuries he suffered during his playing days came when he was in action with the Black Stars and feels he wasn't really lucky at some point of his career.
The 41-year-old played for both the Black Starlets and Satellites before finally walking his way into the senior national team where he debuted for the Black Stars against Egypt before playing his first competitive game against Morocco in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations in Mali and subsequently became a mainstay.
Currently, pursuing his coaching career at Danish side FC Nordsjaelland, and despite battling injuries, Essien won 59 caps for himself with the senior national team and was an integral member of Ghana's golden generation that qualified the nation to it first ever FIFA World Cup in 2006.
Recalling his time with the national team in an interview on JoySports, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid star stated sustaining series of bad injuries in the national colours doesn't make him regret anything but just that he feels he wasn't lucky at some point having missed most important games due to that.
"I suffered) my first injury while I was playing for the Black Stars, against Libya. That was when I damaged my knee badly. I mean, it happens. If there are no injuries, maybe others will not get opportunities so it is part of it,'' Essien told Joy Sports.
''Most of my bad injuries happened when I was playing for the Black Stars but who cares, it happens. I do not hold any grudges or anything. I was just unlucky and injuries are part of the game so we just have to deal with it. You know, I have no regrets. I think I had quite a decent career and I always look into the positive side of every situation.''
Michael Essien enjoyed a fantastic twenty-year career where he featured for series of top European clubs like Chelsea FC, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Olympique Lyon and others where he also won more titles including the UEFA Champions League in 2012.
