From the "I hate to say I told you so" department

The details surrounding Michael Essien's knee injury have been so sketchy and hard to come by that I had a feeling there would me more to the story and the star Ghana player.

When I threw out that there would might be a better than likely chance he might now miss the upcoming World Cup, it was an educated guess, but a statement I felt Essien himself might make.

Well two days down the road, ESPNsoccernet has a story quoting Essien in which he says he admits the World Cup may be a bridge too far to cross.

"It looks unlikely I will play again for Chelsea this season," Essien is quoted as saying in the Sun. "I started running last week but had to stop because of pain in my leg. It is a minor setback but one I could do without.

"If I can make it to the World Cup, I will. If I cannot then I will have to sit at home and support the team. It will be disappointing to miss out but the World Cup is the best tournament in the world and I'd rather be there fully fit."

We'll stay very tuned into for further details, but if I had to guess after having to go through 4 knee operations in two weeks fairly recently and having not played competitively in three months my prediction would be Essien misses South Africa, which would be a huge shame for his country, the sport itself, and to Africa as he would have been a great ambassador.