I had a crush on Michael Essien - Chimamanda Adichie (VIDEO)

Celebrated author Chimamanda Adichie has revealed that she once developed a mild crush on Ghanaian footballer, Michael Essien after the Black Stars defeated the United States at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

She confessed that she was intrigued by his looks and his dexterity on the football.

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

“I watched the game with my best friend, Uju, often shouting and then hugging each other when Ghana finally beat the United States," she read in a video posted to her Facebook page.

“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 realisation that sports allowed us, black Africans, to address historical and political grievances in the most cathartic way.”