Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi will play no part in the team’s quest for a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title in Egypt after the group phase due to a knee injury, Completesports.com reports.
Mikel, who recently signed a two-year contract with Turkish Super Lig outfit, Trabzonspor copped the injury in Super Eagles’ 2-0 loss to the Barea of Madagascar last Sunday at the Alexandria Stadium.
The former Chelsea midfielder has not trained with the rest of the squad this week as a result of the setback.
Completesports.com scooped from a reliable camp source that Mikel will not be able to make an appearance for the team again in the competition due to the injury.
The 31-year-old has made two appearances for the Super Eagles at the 2019 AFCON in Egypt – in the 1-0 win over Burundi and the 2-0 defeat to Madagascar.
Mikel’s performances has however come under scrutiny due to his failure to make much impact in the two games.
He failed to complete 90 minutes in both matches and was left on the substitute bench in Nigeria’s second game against the Syli Nationale of Guinea.
The Super Eagles will battle perennial rivals Cameroon in the Round of 16 on Saturday at the Alexandria Stadium. Kick-off is 5pm, Nigerian time.
By Adeboye Amosu in Alexandria
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COMMENTS
I’m not sure this an injury. I’m thinking something else anyway wish you a speedy recovery..
I wish you a speedy recovery. Your experience will be missed. The service of Ajayi will also be missed against Cameroon for sure.
On the other hands, this is an opportunity for the other players to show their talents.
Please coach Rohr, select the right players for this match. Your subs have to be at the right time.
No mistakes in your subs. Right tactics. Please no more gambling this time around. I’m happy Mr. Kanu also in Egypt at the moment. He can help you if you listen to him. Without Mikel, Nigeria can beat Cameroon with this squard. No shaking. God bless Nigeria!!!
@omonaija you are spot on , this match against Cameroon is our game to take and with a win going forward every other team long our way will panic playing us because the confidence of our boy’s will be very high going in to our match against Egypt so for me Cameroon is the major test, When we scale through which I believe we will then Egypt will be under pressure not us. Go Super Eagles.
Speedy recovery boss.
SE all the way
Ahead ahead
Thanks for your service your name would never be forgotten, go and enjoy your retirement on Turkey.Though we know you are not injured, but is all good.Hopefully a new hero will emerge on Saturday
All is well that ends well. Even if it’s not injury, we respect your decision to know when it’s quit time. You have done your part, and we pray for you to enjoy the rest of your life outside the Green and white.
Meanwhile, concerning dumb dumb Rohr. The same way Nigerians accept mediocrity in governance, is the same way they do in Sports. Maybe that’s just who we are! Any one who has played or followed soccer at any competitive level, and has watched the Super Eagles in the past 3 years. Yet believes Rohr is a coach, is himself a joke. He’s only there because the NFF guys are all beneficiaries of his contract. And because Nigerians as I’ve mentioned live the life of “Miracle go happen”. We only do street and bedroom talks but we don’t make decisive demands on the folks in position of leadership. Nigerian Senators doing nothing but devising ways to out-loot one another, get paid more than most elected officials all over the world, yet we could never afford a world class coach for the national team that is more important to the ordinary Nigerians than the wishy-washy government itself. You listened to folks talking about qualifying for tournaments, but we all know that those qualifications are borne by the desires of these players 1. to participate in those tourneys, 2. The fear of criticism by football passionate Nigerians and 3. The fact that in comparison with other african Teams that we played against to qualify, our players have better football platform with foreign professional leagues. Even if eagles should by any means win AFCON. It has nothing to do with Rohr. He is just another spectator, privileged to be at the crew stand.
“but we all know that those qualifications are borne by the desires of these players 1. to participate in those tourneys, 2. The fear of criticism by football passionate Nigerians and 3. The fact that in comparison with other african Teams that we played against to qualify, our players have better football platform with foreign professional leagues.”.
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So in the times we did not qualify, the players involved did not
1- desire to participate in those tournaments…??
2- were not afraid of criticisms from fans…??
3- were playing in lesser or worse football platforms and leagues….???
CSN don do something o. Laugh wan kill me. What a school of thought. So now that we are qualifying for tournaments…our players are playing in better and bigger leagues than players of Algeria, Cameroon, Guinea etc. LOlz. Its like our players not play in Jupiter. They have moved their games beyond europe where players from our competitors play to beyond this earth.
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“Even if eagles should by any means win AFCON. It has nothing to do with Rohr. He is just another spectator, privileged to be at the crew stand.”
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But if the eagles do badly…..It must have everything to do with the coach….he will no longer be a spectator. LMAO
He whom the world hates will be accused of raising dust even when he is swimming in an ocean. Lolz.
@ Dr Drey.
Cast your mind back to those moments we failed to qualify. oftentimes we had instability with NFF and their political shenanigans. Also, we had players that were mostly at the burned out levels or playing as training materials at foreign clubs. You would not argue that, even though our current crop of players are still not the top echelon of their respective club sides. many of them are regular features.
So get it right. There were times those aforementioned factors were present in the failed attempts to qualify but we didn’t make it because the factors highlighted here trumps the former.
How many times have we witnessed the lack of technical input from Rohr during crucial matches. Team do lose matches, but it is not that difficult to notice the tactical efforts of the coach, unlike Mr. Frozen, Black-out Rohr. Anyone can take money and travel around, watch players, follow matches and the media and call players to the camp. The Actual coaching job and blending a formidable team is done both on the training ground and during the reading of the match as it proceeds. I am hoping that you can tell me one match that it was obvious that the bench showed up a mastery of the game.
I do not know Rohr personally, therefore I have no reason to hate him. I simply don’t see any technical input from him that anyone else even non-professional coach can’t match. And like many, I don’t just say this because of a couple of loses, I’ve maintained my view even when we won. A good coach can lose matches on bad days, but we can tell that he just had a bad day. it happens in soccer. Not in this case. if all you have to render is different apologies and futile excuses all the time, yet remain clueless subsequently, sorry is your middle name.
” A good coach can lose matches on bad days, but we can tell that he just had a bad day. it happens in soccer.”
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And pls when does a bad coach lose matches…? Once a year right…? or twice in 3 years. Because he last time I checked this man you have labelled a bad coach just lost his 2nd competitive match on African soil in 3 years.
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You 1st made an assertion that we couldn’t qualify for tournaments becuase;
“1. to participate in those tourneys, 2. The fear of criticism by football passionate Nigerians and 3. The fact that in comparison with other african Teams that we played against to qualify, our players have better football platform with foreign professional leagues.”
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I asked you 3 simple questions from your own statement…you didnt give me a definitve answer….and pronto…you switched lanes to NFF instability. Was the NFF the reason we couldn’t Qualify for 2012, 2015 and 2017 afcons…? Was this current NFF not under seige from dalung and giwa wen we qualified for the both the 2018 WC and 2019 Afcon…?
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You said the players we used for those failed campaigns were burnt out and were training materials….are you kidding me…? becuase its apparent you think you are conversing with a village man with zero access to knowlege or information. Just hold on:
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Here’s our line up and the clubs they represented as at 2011/2012 when Guinea sent us out of AFCON 2012;
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Dele Aiyenugba – Bnei Yehuda (294 appearances)
Efe Ambrose – Celtic (113 appearances)
Taye Taiwo – AC Milan/ QPR loan (25 appearances)
Joseph Yobo – Everton/ Fenerbache loan (255 appearances)
Joel Obi – Inter milan (50 apps)
John Obi Mikel – chelsea (250 apps)
Victor Obinna – Lokomotive moscow (55 apps)
Fengor Ogude – Valerenga (53 apps)
Emmanuel Emenike – Spartark Moscow (42 apps)
Chinedu Obasi – Hoffenheim (92 apps)
Peter Odemwingie – West brom (87 apps)
Ikechukwu Uche for Peter Odemwingie – Villareal (85 Apps)
Ekigho Ehiosun for Joel Obi – Samsunspor (31 apps)
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Here’s our line up and the clubs they represented as at 2014/2015 when SA sent us out of AFCON 2015;
Enyeama (captain) – Lille (118 apps)
Efe Ambrose – Celtic (113 appearances)
Azubuike Egwuekwe – Warri wolves
Kenneth Omeruo – Chelsea/Middlesborough loan (33 apps)
Juwon Oshaniwa – Ashdod (47 apps)
Raheem Lawal – Eskişehirspor (50 apps)
John Obi Mikel – chelsea (250 apps)
Ogenyi Onazi – lazo (76 apps)
Emmanuel Emenike – Fenerbache (69 apps)
Ahmed Musa – CSKA moscow (259 apps)
Ikechukwu Uche – Villareal (85 Apps)
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Here’s our line up and the clubs they represented as at 2016/2017 when Egypt sent us out of AFCON 2017;
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Daniel Akpeyi – Chippa Utd
Efe Ambrose – Celtic (113 appearances)
Godfrey Oboabona – Rizespor (96 apps)
Abdullahi Shehu – Anorthosis Famagusta (48 apps)
Amuzie Stanley – Lugano (13 apps)
Peter Etebo – Feirense (45 apps)
John Obi Mikel (captain) – chelsea (250 apps)
Victor Moses – Westham (21 apps)
Odion Ighalo – Watford 82 apps
Ahmed Musa – Leicester city (21 apps)
Aminu Umar – Osmanlıspor (101 apps)
On the bench:
Ikechukwu Ezenwa – IUFC
Elderson Echiéjilé -Monaco (37 apps)
Azubuike Egwuekwe – KUPS 50 (apps)
Ogenyi Onazi – Trabzonspor (69 apps)
Alex Iwobi – Arsenal
Kelechi Iheanacho -MAn city (46 apps)
Moses Simon – Gent 108 apps
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Those are the players you implied
– were burnt out and were training materials
– did not desire to participate in those tournaments…??
– were not afraid of criticisms from fans…??
– were playing in lesser or worse football platforms and leagues.
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Unfortunately for you…most of those who were part of a failed 2017 bid are integral parts of the current set up that has made us to forget how to use calculators.
The coach you claim doesn’t have ANY tactical input into matches has not lost 23 out of 31 matches in charge (If we narrow it down to the african continent, he has not lost 22 out of 25 matches) and has had his team score to equalize or extend its lead in the 2nd half after making 1 or more substitutions in 16 of those 23 matches…..yet he has no technical input into the team.
So all the routines the players used in all this matches were in the airplane on their way to matches abi…they were not learnt on the training ground.
Clap for yourself. I doff my hat for your school of thought.
Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder…..one who is hated will always be see as ugly even if she wins a beauty pagent.
Even though you claim you dont HATE the coach….this statement of yours tells a thousand stories….
““Even if eagles should by any means win AFCON. It has nothing to do with Rohr. He is just another spectator, privileged to be at the crew stand.”
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But if the eagles do badly…..It must have everything to do with the coach….he will no longer be a spectator. LMAO
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Its normal to give a dog a bad name to hang it…!
@Dr.Drey. Your analyses are perfectly correct.This is just a case of “If pikin good, na him papa go collect salute. But if pikin bad, na him mama no train am well.” I absolutely agree with you bro.
My brother….such is life o….that is typical human nature. Even Jesus wey dey heal sick pipo, feed thousands FOC, even raise dead men dem, plus many many other good good tins…. nna ehn….wen time reach dem look for bad name give am to crucify am
@Dr.Drey. Your analyses are perfectly correct.This is just a case of “If pikin good, na him papa go collect salute. But if pikin bad, na him mama no train am well.” I absolutely agree with you bro.
Good n intelligent reply @ Drey. Yes Rohr might not be a top top coach, but one thing I ll forever respect him 4 n wish him to continue is FOR CALLING THE BLUFF OFF LOADS OF ALL KINDS OF SELF-CENTRED FOOTBALLERS AGENTS. Except, we can have another manager that can chase these Satans out of our national teams, I will always stand by Rohr because it’s as clear as a Crystal ball that this is d reason for d baseless critisms. It’s only when Nigeria is preparing for a major tournament, you start reading Echejile scored in his new club, Babatunde dazzles in his clubs win, Samuel lifts his new Chinese club with a brace. You go on YouTube to see these goals, you almost wanna destroy your handset because you just be watching d football either heading these players before entering the goal or kicking d players before entering d goal. Echejile was scoring Lol before AFCON but as soon as AFCON started, he cancelled his contract. God deliver Nigeria from selfish people.
Oh…so you too you catch dat drift…? LMAO
Before afcon provisional list was released…na different kind names dem dey drop for this group…..afterwards we no hear of those names again.
Bros…I tell you most of those sponsoring media campaigns against the coach now are those whose bluff he has called over and over….that is wy they will fault everything he does and call him names to undermine him.
One was even complaining why should the team practice penalties….can you imagine..? A team heading into the knockout stage of a competition and being queried for practicing penalty kicks….LOLZ
Rohr now has lots of enemies nowadays,
Imagine..”for the past three years, Eagles has not been playing good football” but years before that nko? We were playing like real Madrid and Barca but couldn’t qualify for tournaments?
May be u people have forgotten that Uganda , Congo, came here to beat us then even DR Congo beat us 2-0 when we were playing good football.
What do we call the changes they Rohr made against Guinea…Iwobi to the centre and introduction of Ighalo and Musa? Technical Output?
The 3-5-2 against South Africa that we scored 3 clear goals and 2 was cancelled.
Please ,leave this man till the end of the tournament I beg.
I enjoy Dr. Drey analysis he has so much details to back his claim..i have noticed nowadays that many Nigerians have lost interest in super eagles over time and these are the people who argue with out fact.. They are not astute followers of the team and only become interested during major tournament… Many did not even follow the qualifiers or previous years we were struggling.. I salute you Dr. Drey it’s obvious you know what you are saying..
From the list of players you gave I was surprised seeing players like Stanley awezum and aminu umar starting a major qualifier game while iwobi and iheanacho on the bench it’s obvious why we didn’t qualify.. Siasia played his boys either to promote them for contract or some other reasons and it’s very funny seeing people mentioning sia1 as a potential coach..
@ Ololo, Siasia, Sunday Oliseh, Amunike are very good coaches n even late Stephen was a good coach. The problem is, lots of very very selfish footballers agents are all over d place doing everything both physically n diabolically to force their players down d throat of these coaches. And saddly while some of our local coaches resists albeit finally giving in others are more than willing to sacrifice the pride of d nation at d altar of bribe to get these highest bidder agent players on d final list. This is where Rohr has come shoulder high above the rest hence the reason these satanic agents are doing everything to ruin him. I can’t be fooled by all these very cheap blackmailing of Rohr. What people fail to realise is even Chukweze n Henry, very good players, might not have made the team to AFCON, if it were some of d coaches some are mentioning that have been in charge. Not because of lack of talent but because such coaches would have giving in to certain agents to take their own players instead. We have seen that happen several times. The last u-20 is still very fresh.
I salute you bak my oga.
Some people just make such spurious claims that you begin to imagine if they dropped from another world apart from this one in which we all live.
Imagine someone claiming we didnt qualify for 3 afcons in 7 years because the players didnt desire to play in those tournaments….! Like seriously…!
Don’t mind them my man @Drey…
Because of Madagascar Match, different names have been coming out to talk against Rohr,…
And the funniest thing about their quotes is how they always start their posts..”I’ve been saying it since that Rohr is not a good Coach”
I only know of a person..others are cameleons..even him sometimes “Omo Naija’ but funniest thing about him is that, he’s been doing that for years even before Rohr.
He always seeing negative things about super Eagles and the handlers except The falcons Coach Dennerby. Let’s just sit back and enjoy the nation’s cup.
Hahahahaha….Omo9ja will come here and be hailing keshi….the same omo9ja form Kickoffnigeria that used to rain curses and insults on Keshi…calling him ‘gather and play’, useless etc.
I told him one day that Keshi’s spirit may rise from the dead and give him a dirty slap one of these days for being such a hypocrite.
@DrDrey…I enjoy reading your contributions here any day, any time and you never disappoint. Your comment is filled with intelligence and facts.
You are appreciated.
Critic always says “Rohr is an inexperienced coach”, yet the team is progressing. If that is the new definition of progress…abeg make dem liv am like dat.
Thanks for the compliment @ Mo. I appreciate you too.
Would love to read from y’all too. I understand that many love to observe from afar. I used to be like that on many other platforms too, but just decided to start dropping my bit here. Never knew some people somewhere would be religious with reading up. Who knows, you might just be making as much or even more sense too. Wisdom shared is like a running stream u kno. It never smells. One love sir/madam