John Mensah confident in Ghana and Sunderland
Ghanian defender John Mensah has expressed confidence in the Ghanian national team and in Sunderland, his current club team.
Mensah, who is on loan to Sunderland from Ligue 1 side Olympique Lyonnais, missed one of the penalties as the only remaining African team were sent out of the tournament.
"What I can say is we did the best for a nation, for the whole African continent, because the way we played the whole of Africa was behind us, and even countries beyond Africa too," Mensah, told Goal.com
UK. "We did the best we could for the whole continent."
Michael Essien, who joined Chelsea from Lyon in 2005, announced his retirement from international football after missing the World Cup with a knee injury.
With 51 international caps, Essien is one of Ghana's most experienced players, and his presence will be keenly felt in the country's upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
While he has not spoken directly with Essien, Mensah said that he hopes the midfielder will return to the national team soon.
Mensah: Sunderland will get more points
Sunderland are currently 11th in the Premier League table, having collected seven points in eight games.
Boosted by the arrival of Asamoah Gyan from Stade Rennais, another Ghanian player, and the form of English striker Darren Bent, Mensah believes his club is due to advance in the table.
"Sunderland is a good team, we all know that Sunderland have some good players. Darren Bent, who has scored a lot of goals recently, in particular he is a very good player, a very good striker... The side
has had injury problems, but I believe after that Sunderland have a good team and can certainly move higher up the league this season. I believe we can push on after some good early results."
Sunderland host Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.
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