One to Watch: Anthony Annan

It's true Ghana's chances in South Africa took a hit after it was made clear that Michael Essien would be excluded due to injury, but if there's one position where Ghana have squad depth, it's in central midfield. Five of the remaining Ghanaians who can fill the position have played football at the top divisions of England and Italy this season. Internazionale's Sulley Muntari, Bologna's (permanently unfit) Stephen Appiah and Portsmouth Kevin-Prince Boateng, who's nationality switch was just recently approved by FIFA, being the well known ones. Then there is Udinese's young supertalent duo Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu and Kojo Asamoah, 19 and 21 respectively, who both impressed for Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations 2010. But the player set to directly replace Chelsea's world class defensive midfielder in the World Cup is Rosenborg's 23 year old Anthony Annan.

The Norwegian champions only lost a single game last season, and Annan was voted Rosenborg's Player of the Season by both fans and media. The short Ghanaian is often compared to Claude Makelele, and the similarities are not merely physical. Sitting in front of the defensive line, he has a gift for winning the ball and the right attitude for doing his team's dirty work, relentlessly closing down the opposition. What he lacks in height, he makes up for in strength and positional sense. He has at times even been effectively used for marking the tallest player of the opposition on set pieces. With the ball, Annan is unlikely to be confused with a block of concrete. He shields the ball very well, and is a tidy passer, hardly ever losing possession or resorting to the hoof. In fact, he was earlier in his career, when he had a more free roaming midfield role, somewhat curiously likened to the skilled Argentinian playmaker of similar height, Pablo Aimar. As the midfield anchor however, Annan prefers to keep it simple and mostly leaves the dribbling and playmaking to his teammates.

With Rosenborg already resigned to losing the Ghanaian in the transfer window, Annan's peformances in the World Cup will directly affect the fee and destination the club and player can expect from the transfer. There will certainly be a lot of pressure on the young midfielder this summer, who will have to make the transition from partnering Ghana's best footballer of all time, to replacing him, if Ghana is to have success at the World Cup.

G. Lindström