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Africa's most expensive footballer, Michael Essien, will not be around when Ghana have their moment in the sun as they take on Brazil in the second round on Tuesday.

For Chelsea midfielder Essien (pictured), the joy of seeing Ghana's dream debut run continue has been clouded by his suspension for the  game after he picked up the second of his two yellow cards in the 2-1 win over the United States.

'I'm very sad that I won't be around to play Brazil and I can only hope that I will be able to play in the quarter-finals,' said Essien, who moved to Chelsea from Olympique Lyon last season for GBP24.4 million ($345.4 million).

'This is going to be a huge game for us. Meeting Brazil is huge and playing in the second round of the World Cup will mean a lot for Ghana. We are ready to play any team, even Brazil,' Essien said.

Midfield inspiration Essien knew he would be out of the reckoning after a crunching tackle on US captain Claudio Reyna in the first half. But that did not prevent him from giving it all for his country.

'This victory is not only for Ghana but for the whole of Africa. I hope the whole of Africa will be cheering us on,' Essien said.

Ghanian midfielder Otto Addo voiced the concerns of the rest of his teammates when he said Essien would be missed against Brazil. 'Essien is a very special player and a key member of the team. We will somehow have to make do without him,' said Addo.

Ghana clinched second place in the group with a 2-0 win over the Czechs and the 2-1 victory over the US. They only lost to Italy 2-0.

The four-time winners of the African Nations Cup, and the country that produced stars like Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah, Ghana have always underperformed when it came to qualifying for the World Cup. But all that changed with a key 2-0 win over South Africa in Johannesburg last June. And right in the middle of it all was Essien, who scored three goals in the qualifiers as the Black Stars booked their first-ever World Cup appearance.



Essien to miss Ghana's magical moment