I had a crush on Michael Essien - Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie

Renowned Nigerian novelist, Chimamanda Adichie, has revealed that she once had a crush on Michael Essien after the Ghanaian team defeated the United States at the 2006 World Cup tournament in Germany.

She made the revelation in the introduction she wrote for a picture book, Africa? The Future of Football, authored by a photographer, Pall Stefansson.

According to her, because Nigeria was absent at the tournament, the Ghanaian team got her attention and she became ‘a Ghanaian’.

Making a point about how people often forget their differences in the euphoria of the football game, Adichie narrated how she watched the Ghana-US clash with her best friend, Uju, and how they excitedly referred to the Ghanaian players as ‘our boys’.

She said, “I watched the game with my best friend, Uju, often shouting and then hugging each other when Ghana finally beat the United States.

“You know some of our boys started playing this game without shoes’, Uju said. ‘Our boys’ were, of course, the Ghanaians.

“A small consequence of that game was my developing a mild crush on the Ghanaian player, Michael Essien, as much for his looks as for his dexterity.

“But the larger and more important consequence was my realization that sports allowed us, black Africans, to address historical and political grievances in the most cathartic way.”