He was our pillar – Sulley Muntari showers praise on Michael Essien

Sulley Muntari speaks about his time in the Black Stars

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Midfielder Sulley Muntari has described his former teammate Michael Essien as the pillar in the Black Stars‘ golden generation that qualified for Ghana’s first FIFA World Cup tournament in 2006.

Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien shared the Black Stars dressing room for more than a decade and they led Ghana to the 2006 FIFA World Cup together with Stephen Appiah, Asamoah Gyan, and John Mensah.

The Accra Hearts of Oak midfielder despite crediting all the players who helped in qualifying Ghana to the 2006 World Cup named Michael Essien as the pillar in the team who kept them going.

“When we were in the Black Stars, I used to rotate positions with Laryea and Appiah, but Essien was always the constant person in the midfield to protect mus and also start transitions. He was the pillar of our team.”

He added that though the four of them (Sulley, Essien, Appiah, and Laryea) built a special relationship in the Black Stars, they didn’t shut the door on others in the team.

“We (Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan, Stephen Appiah, Laryea, and others) built that relationship in the Black Stars but we didn’t discriminate against the others and the new ones.”

“We always welcomed them to the team. The kind of relationship that we had in the team, nobody gets angry,” he told veteran broadcaster Kwabena Yeboah in an interview on GTV Sports+.

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