Super Eagles Captain Mikel Replies Mourinho : I Am Ready To Sacrifice My Position

Published: June 20, 2018

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel says he's ready to play the holding midfielder role provided that it will help the Super Eagles to win matches.

Portuguese gaffer Jose Mourinho, who converted Mikel to a holding midfielder more than a decade ago, criticized the Nigeria number ten in the wake of their 2-0 loss to Croatia, saying he's better as a number six not as an attacking midfielder.

''I will do anything possible I can do to make sure we win games,'' Mikel stated.

''I am the captain of this team, I am the leader of this team, if I have to sacrifice for this team to get better, I will sacrifice my position, I will do that for this team to win games.

''I think it is important for people to understand that playing in the central position is not the main thing, you have to be able to give 110 percent for the team.''

Mikel is confident that the Super Eagles will get their World Cup campaign back on track with a win against Iceland on Friday.

''We are focused. We are ready. We want to win. We know that we need a victory against Iceland to stay in the tournament and we are doing everything in training to make that happen,'' he added.

The Super Eagles will fly to Volgograd on Thursday morning and will hold their final training session in the afternoon before they face Iceland the following day.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel