Mikel Obi Quits International Football At 32

Mikel Obi Quits International Football At 32

By Niyi Busari

Super Eagles captain to the 2019 African Nation Cup, John Mikel Obi has announced his international retirement at 32, BSNSports.com.ng can report.

Mikel made the announcement a day after Super Eagles defeated Carthage Eagles of Tunisia 1-0 win in the Third-place match of the 2019 African Cup of Nations.

Mikel who started his professional football from Plateau United represented the Nigeria under-20 team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and won the Silver Ball for the second-best player at the tournament (behind Lionel Messi) as the Africans finished runner-up to Argentina.

He made his debut for the Nigeria senior team on 17 August 2005, when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 friendly win over Libya. He did not play for the national team again prior to being named in the squad for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. In Nigeria's first group game, against Ghana, Mikel was an unused substitute.

However, he was introduced into the second game against Zimbabwe early in the second half.

Within ten minutes of coming on, he had supplied both the corner that resulted in Christian Obodo heading the game's opening goal, and scored Nigeria's second goal. He made his first international start in Nigeria's final group game, a 2–1 victory over Senegal.

In 2007, Mikel was suspended from all Nigerian national teams after manager Berti Vogts dropped Mikel from the team's squad for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Niger for failing to attend their previous match against Uganda.

Mikel cited an injury, but because he did not attend an independent check by Nigerian officials, he was dropped. This, and his refusal to play for the Nigerian under-23 side, resulted in his suspension by the Nigeria Football Federation. After apologising, he was called up to the national squad for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana.

At the tournament, he scored one goal and registered one assist in a match against Benin to help Nigeria qualify for the quarter-finals against hosts Ghana, where they lost 2–1 to their West African rivals.^[76]

Mikel with Nigeria against Iceland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Mikel had been called up for the under-23 side in preparation of the team's last Olympicqualifier on 26 March 2008, needing a win to qualify.

His failure to show up for any of the qualifiers again setting off some controversy with the U23 team coach Samson Siasia, who dropped him from the Olympic squad amidst significant furor from the media.

On 5 June 2010, Mikel was ruled out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa due to injury. He had been struggling to recover from a knee problem after undergoing surgery in May, though there were also reports that an ankle injury was to blame for Mikel's withdrawal.

At the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, Mikel was a key player for Nigeria as they went on to win their third continental title. He was named by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in the team of the tournament alongside teammates Vincent Enyeama, Efe Ambrose, Victor Moses and Emmanuel Emenike.^[79]

Mikel made his FIFA World Cup debut during the 2014 tournament in Brazil, earning a man of the match award in the Super Eagles' opening game against Iran  and helping the team to reach the knockout stage for the first time since 1998.

He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics and was later named captain of the Olympics squad. On 13 August 2016, Mikel scored his first ever Olympic goal in a 2–0 win against Denmark to advance to the semi-final.

 After the 2–0 defeat to Germany, Nigeria went on to the bronze medal match against Honduras. On 20 August, Mikel helped Nigeria to the bronze medal in a 3–2 victory over Honduras. Nigeria became the first ever country to win all three medals at the Olympic Games with the 1996 squad winning the gold and 2008 squad winning the silver.

In a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Algeria, Mikel scored a goal and assisted his Chelsea teammate Victor Moses in a 3–1 victory.

In July 2019 he said that the 2019 African Cup of Nations would be his last tournament for Nigeria.

Mikel Obi could only featured in the group B matches before he sustained an injury and Alex Iwobi took over his role at the 2019 African Nations Cup where Nigeria won the bronze medal after a slim 1-0 win over Carthage of Eagles.