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Mikel: I Love Nigeria
Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi has restated his commitment to the Nigerian national team, declaring that he loves adorning the green and white jersey of the country despite widespread media reports to the contrary...
May 9, 2008 8:28:15 PM
In an interview with local radio station Brila FM, the former Lyn Oslo player stated that he was always ready to honor invitations to the national team.
"I’ll like to let people know how I love Nigeria and how much I want to play for this country and how much it means to me whenever I put on the green and white jersey. I love my country," he said.
"I’m a Nigerian and I’ll always want to bring out the best in this country and this is what I want to do. When people say I don’t want to play for this country it really hurts me."
When asked reasons for his inability to honor call-ups to the Nations U-23 team during the qualifying race for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Mikel cited a busy schedule as the reason for not honouring coach Samson Siasia’s calls.
"I’ve got a very busy schedule and, amongst Nigeria’s national team players, I’m the busiest because I play every week and even in the mid-week," he said.
"I really love my country, I want to serve my country and I really don’t like it when people say I disrespect the country. It hurts. Whenever I’m called up to play and am available, I’ll come down to play,."
Rotation
At club level, he offered reasons why coach Avram Grant used him more on the domestic scene than the European tourneys, explaining that experience of other midfielders in the team relegated him most times to the bench on European nights.
"I'm a young player and I play in such a big club with big players…I play in the same position with the likes of Makelele, Lampard, Michael Ballack and Michael Essien," he said.
"They are big players and it won’t be easy to keep them out and not make them play, we all rotate it and there’s no hard feeling.
"The manager knows what he’s doing and we just have to keep going as every player in the squad is very important to Chelsea."
Awenlimobor Sylvester
"I’ll like to let people know how I love Nigeria and how much I want to play for this country and how much it means to me whenever I put on the green and white jersey. I love my country," he said.
"I’m a Nigerian and I’ll always want to bring out the best in this country and this is what I want to do. When people say I don’t want to play for this country it really hurts me."
When asked reasons for his inability to honor call-ups to the Nations U-23 team during the qualifying race for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Mikel cited a busy schedule as the reason for not honouring coach Samson Siasia’s calls.
"I’ve got a very busy schedule and, amongst Nigeria’s national team players, I’m the busiest because I play every week and even in the mid-week," he said.
"I really love my country, I want to serve my country and I really don’t like it when people say I disrespect the country. It hurts. Whenever I’m called up to play and am available, I’ll come down to play,."
Rotation
At club level, he offered reasons why coach Avram Grant used him more on the domestic scene than the European tourneys, explaining that experience of other midfielders in the team relegated him most times to the bench on European nights.
"I'm a young player and I play in such a big club with big players…I play in the same position with the likes of Makelele, Lampard, Michael Ballack and Michael Essien," he said.
"They are big players and it won’t be easy to keep them out and not make them play, we all rotate it and there’s no hard feeling.
"The manager knows what he’s doing and we just have to keep going as every player in the squad is very important to Chelsea."
Awenlimobor Sylvester
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