Mikel Was Dropped From Nigeria U17s & Nine Other Interesting Facts About Chelsea Ace
Published: September 18, 2016
Allnigeriasoccer.com has uncovered ten interesting facts about Chelsea star and Super Eagles skipper John Obi Mikel.
1) A certain Bright Okafor is credited with the discovery of Mikel and he took the attacking midfielder to the Nigerian U17 camp in 2002.
2) At the training camp, Mikel’s performance did not measure up to standard in the eyes of the technical crew and he was subsequently dropped by coach Ganiyu Salami.
3) If not for Bitrus Bewarang, now the Technical Director of the Nigerian Federation, perhaps nobody would have heard about Mikel. Bewarang was unhappy that Mikel was axed from the U17 squad and he gave a written note to Bright Okafor to take to the U17 coaches to reverse their decision.
4) Mikel was reinstated into the squad after starring for Plateau United Feeders in their 4-0 thrashing of the Golden Eaglets in a friendly. Another gem was uncovered in the national team’s trip to Jos in the shape of Ezekiel Bala, who netted a brace for Jos City Raiders in their 2-2 draw with the Nigeria U17s. Both were handed fresh call ups.
5) Mikel spent his formative years as a footballer at Greater Tomorrow FC (now known as El Kanemi Junior Jos), before joining Pepsi Football Academy and Plateau United Feeders.
6) He began his education at Township School Jos before proceeding to the famous Saint Murumba College Jos.
7) Mikel played the number ten role for all the grassroots teams he represented in Nigeria due to his exceptional qualities.
8) Born on 22 April 1987, he trained with South African club Ajax Cape Town for several months before he was snapped up by Lyn Oslo (Norway).
9) He holds the record of being the most expensive Nigerian teenager signed by a European club when Chelsea paid a combined transfer fee in the region of 20 million euros to secure his signature from Lyn Oslo.
10) Having racked up 16,228 minutes of game time in the Premier League since his debut, Mikel has spent more minutes on the pitch than any other Nigerian player.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
Photo Credit : chelseafc.com
1) A certain Bright Okafor is credited with the discovery of Mikel and he took the attacking midfielder to the Nigerian U17 camp in 2002.
2) At the training camp, Mikel’s performance did not measure up to standard in the eyes of the technical crew and he was subsequently dropped by coach Ganiyu Salami.
3) If not for Bitrus Bewarang, now the Technical Director of the Nigerian Federation, perhaps nobody would have heard about Mikel. Bewarang was unhappy that Mikel was axed from the U17 squad and he gave a written note to Bright Okafor to take to the U17 coaches to reverse their decision.
4) Mikel was reinstated into the squad after starring for Plateau United Feeders in their 4-0 thrashing of the Golden Eaglets in a friendly. Another gem was uncovered in the national team’s trip to Jos in the shape of Ezekiel Bala, who netted a brace for Jos City Raiders in their 2-2 draw with the Nigeria U17s. Both were handed fresh call ups.
5) Mikel spent his formative years as a footballer at Greater Tomorrow FC (now known as El Kanemi Junior Jos), before joining Pepsi Football Academy and Plateau United Feeders.
6) He began his education at Township School Jos before proceeding to the famous Saint Murumba College Jos.
7) Mikel played the number ten role for all the grassroots teams he represented in Nigeria due to his exceptional qualities.
8) Born on 22 April 1987, he trained with South African club Ajax Cape Town for several months before he was snapped up by Lyn Oslo (Norway).
9) He holds the record of being the most expensive Nigerian teenager signed by a European club when Chelsea paid a combined transfer fee in the region of 20 million euros to secure his signature from Lyn Oslo.
10) Having racked up 16,228 minutes of game time in the Premier League since his debut, Mikel has spent more minutes on the pitch than any other Nigerian player.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
Photo Credit : chelseafc.com
Latest News
- Morak FC chief backs Golden Eaglets to qualify for World Cup despite 2-0 loss to his team
- Chelsea ready to use Lukaku plus a young player as makeweight in their efforts to sign Osimhen
- Norwich mulling over move for Charlton's German-Nigerian RB after impressing in trial game v Chelsea youth
- 'Has been amazing' - Calvin Bassey lauds Marco Silva after Fulham's 10th clean sheet of the season
- U18 PL: John Terry and Cole Palmer in attendance as five Nigerians feature for Chelsea in loss to Norwich
- Awoniyi makes his first appearance in 55 days as Nottingham Forest claim huge win v Sheffield United
- U18 PL: Obi-Martin, Olusesi and Ajayi on target as Tottenham beat local rivals Arsenal
- The 7 best African soccer players of all time
- NLO1 2024: FWC FC head coach Bunmi Haruna hails fans, management for support
- FWC FC star dubbed the 'god of goals', Ugwu scores again; Flying Eagles coach keeping tabs on striker
Football News 24/7
News Categories
- Football Betting
- African Players
- Australia/ Asia
- Belgian Championship
- Bundesliga
- Danish Football
- English Premier League
- Nigeria National Teams
- Nigeria Premier League
- Norwegian Football
- Polish Football
- Russian Championship
- Serie A
- Spanish Liga
- Swedish Championship
- Transfer
- Turkish Championship
- Ukrainian Football
- Uncategorized
- Women's Football