Ghana national side for the near future to focus on his career with Chelsea, having suffered two significant injuries while playing for Ghana in recent years. Having recovered from those injuries, Essien subsequently promised his availability to his nation "very soon". Essien returned to Ghana's squad in August 2013 for the team's final 2014 World Cup qualifiers. He appeared as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 defeat of Zambia as the Black Stars secured qualification to the final round. He started in both play-off matches against Egypt and was named in Ghana's squad for the tournament finals. He made one appearance, coming on as a second-half substitute in the opening 2–1 defeat to the United States. In July 2018, Essien has announced his retirement from international football, after over 12 years of active service with Ghana. He said that he even retired before the 2014 FIFA World Cup but he was called back by former Ghana coach, James Kwesi Appiah to come and help the team. Coaching career Nordsjælland On 19 August 2020 it was revealed, that Essien was training with Danish Superliga club Nordsjælland, where he also got the opportunity to be part of the work around the Superliga team and several of the club's academy teams, just as he got a better knowledge of the teaching and development of young people off the field in FCN, as inspiration for his ongoing coaching education. Nordsjælland is in partnership with Right to Dream Academy in Ghana. However, the club confirmed on 9 September 2020, that they had affiliated with Essien as part of the club's coaching team for the 2020–21 season. He would thus be part of the coaching team in an assistant role at the same time, participating in the training sessions to implement the exercises in the best possible way and able to contribute with new input to the coaching team's evaluations. Style of play Essien was a physically strong midfielder, who often played in a central midfield role. He was often touted as a box-to-box midfielder for his ability to exert energy in supporting both offensive and defensive play, and for his powerful and tough tackling playing style, which has earned him the nickname "The Bison". Essien can also play as a defender, both on the right of defence and in the centre. In addition to his work-rate, physicality, and defensive skills, Essien also possessed good technique,