Ghana midfielder Michael Essien paid a surprise visit to the players of the Black Princesses ahead of their FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup opener against host France.

The ex-Chelsea midfielder is in Brittany as one of the high profile personalities invited for the tournament's first day.

The Black Princesses have been preparing for the first game and were very excited to meet a legend of Ghanaian football.

The Chelsea legend encouraged the ladies to go out there and make Ghana proud. He urged the Princesses to fly high the flag of Ghana

The visit by Essien will be a huge boost to the confidence of the Princesses who did not have the best of preparations to the tournament.

The Princesses will take on host nation, France this afternoon and expectations are rife that they will come out of the game with a favourable scoreline.