Mikel: AFCON 2013 Win More Special Than Champions League

John Mikel Obi says winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria is more special than his UEFA Champions League success with Chelsea.

Mikel was part of the Chelsea side that make history by winning the Champions League for the first time in the 2011/12 season.

The 38-year-old played a crucial as Nigeria’s Super Eagles won their third Africa Cup of Nations title in 2013 in South Africa.

The former midfielder said that winning a trophy with the national team is always special.

“We play everything, we win the Premier League, the Champions League, but it’s always special when you win something with your national team. I’ve always said that my African Cup of Nations title, I’ll rank it together with the Champions League. When you see the joy it brings not just to you or your family but the people of the country, in Africa we go crazy about football, football is everything,” Mikel said on That Peter Crouch Podcast.

“We had Didier Drogba stop a war because of football, that’s how massive it is for us. That’s why I responded to Carragher when he tried to discredit a tournament that people die for, that people go crazy for. I shed my blood and tears to win it, I respect the European tournament, don’t discredit our tournament.”

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Mikel also reflected on the celebrations that followed the team’s success at the competition.

“It’s massive and for me to finally win it was huge. The party was crazy especially when we got back to Nigeria, millions of people outside, people didn’t sleep, they were screaming, shouting, dancing, music was playing, everyone was getting drunk, it was absolutely crazy,” he added.

The Super Eagles started the tournament slowly with draw against Burkina Faso and Zambia in their opening two fixtures.

They however turned things around edging past Cote d’Ivoire in the quarter-finals on their way to winning the trophy.

“To go through that tournament, having such pressure from the whole country, coming up against Didier Drogba, Yaya Touré, Salomon Kalou, and to blow them away in the quarterfinals and then to go on in the final to win it was something absolutely fantastic,” Mikel added.

“I felt a little bit more than when I won the Champions League because of how much it meant to the people of Nigeria.”

By Adeboye Amosu