Celebrated former Ghanaian footballer, Michael Essien says venturing into coaching as a career protected him from slipping into depression after retirement.
The footballer disclosed that coaching was not a career path on his mind post retirement, but he ventured into that to save himself.
He made this revelation in an interview with Fentuo Tahiru.
“When I was playing, if you asked me if I wanted to go into coaching, I would say no.
But as time passed, I started thinking: I’ve been in football all my life; why not take up coaching and acquire my licenses to still stay in football and be around the players?
“I took this decision to go into coaching because I didn’t want to be one of these ex-players who finish their careers, go home, and start thinking about what they want to do, only to get into depression.
The former Chelsea player who is currently an individual player coach at Danish club FC holds a UEFA License A coaching certificate.
