It was curtain call for John Obi Mikel popularly known as ‘Mikel as he bowed out of international football after fourteen years of active service to the nation. He finally called it quits with the Super Eagles after an outing at the African Cup of Nations hosted in the land of the Pharaohs that saw Nigeria picking the bronze medal. The secrets of men they say are in their stories, before your very eyes are ten incredible facts about the young lad who joined the circle of football legends that you probably weren’t told
1 Michael is Mikel’s Name
Though called the name Mikel by friends and foes alike, his full name was John Michael Nchekwube Obinna but launched himself to the world as John Mikel Obi at the U-17 World Cup in Finland in the year 2003
2 First Nations Cup, Egypt, Last Nations Cup, Egypt
It is more than a coincidence to say that his first ever African Cup of Nations outing was in Egypt where he helped the Super Eagles win a bronze medal so was his last African Cup of Nations outing was in Egypt where he also won a bronze medal and believe it or not people, the coach of the bronze winning team was also the same coach who fielded him as a junior national team player three years earlier, former Super Eagles coach and captain, Austin Eguavoen
3 Three Super Eagles Coaches, One Mikel
Mikel Obi unbelievably played under three Super Eagle Coaches, Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia and Late Stephen Keshi who also played in the Super Eagles and were among the trio that won the second African title in Tunisia 1994
4 Mikel 1 Messi 0
Both Mikel and Messi played at the FIFA World Youth Championship in 2005, they both met at the World Cup in 2014 and 2018 respectively yet Mikel has one point above Messi and that is a continental silverware.
He won the African Cup of Nations hosted by South Africa in 2013 while Messi is yet to win any silverware at international level
5 FIFA Treble Complete
He remains among the few Nigerians who completed the FIFA Treble, he played at the U-17 World Cup in 2003 in Finland, U-20 World Youth Championship in 2005 in Holland and FIFA World Cup in 2014 in Brazil and 2018 in Russia
6 Austin ‘Jay Jay Okocha vs. John Obi Mikel
Austin ‘Jay Jay’Okocha and John Obi Mikel have a lot in common, they both wore the number 10 jersey for the Super Eagles though at different times, they both won bronze medals for Nigeria on three occasions, they both won an AFCON title, they were both captains for the side and where Jay Jay ended his international football career, Mikel started and ended his at the African Cup of Nations in Egypt 2006 and 2019.
7 Captain Charisma Mikel Obi
Mikel showed great leadership abilities in Brazil 2016 Olympics as he rallied his troops to win the only bronze medal for Nigeria in the football event after bailing the team out from being stranded in Atlanta
John Michael Nchekwube Obinna is one of the greatest legends to have risen from the ranks of the Super Eagles, who is in dispute of this?
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