UEFA has paid tribute to the Ghanaian midfielder on his 36 birthday as it took to its Twitter handle to share a stunning goal he scored against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.
Essien is considered as one of the greatest African players to feature in the elite European club competition.
Despite winning the UEFA Champions League in 2012 with Chelsea at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich, he is well remembered for the picturesque goal he scored against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the competition in 2009.
The former Lyon midfielder scored a nice volley with his left foot after he had received a pass from Frank Lampard to give Chelsea the lead at the Stamford Bridge.
However, Iniesta on the stroke of full time scored an equally quality goal to break the hearts of Chelsea faithful- Barcelona qualified for the final via the away goal rule and subsequently thrashed Manchester United to win competition.
Michael Essien who has had stints with clubs like Liberty Professionals, Bastia, Lyon, Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Panathinaikos and Persib Bandung is currently unattached.