Mikel and first African to play for Chelsea listed among Blues' Olympic medalists

Published: July 21, 2021

Ahead of the start of the men's football tournament of the Tokyo Olympics, the official website of Chelsea has listed players of the club - past and present - who have won medals with their countries.

Two former Nigeria internationals in the shape of John Obi Mikel and Celestine Babayaro made the cut.

Chelsea's first African player in history Babayaro was signed by the Blues in 1997, a year after starring as the original Dream Team won the Olympic football gold in Atlanta.

With the exception of the loss to Brazil in the group stage, Babayaro went the distance in all the matches played by the Nigeria U23s in the United States, scoring against Mexico in the quarterfinal and Brazil in the showpiece.

Four years later, the left-sided defender captained the Dream Team at Sydney 2000, featuring against Honduras and Australia in the group stage.

John Mikel Obi became the second footballer to captain Nigeria's Olympic team as a player of Chelsea in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Nigeria won the bronze medal by beating Honduras 3-2, one of the six matches Mikel was involved in during the competition in Brazil.

Mikel set up all the goals scored by the Dream Team VI against Honduras while scoring and providing an assist in the win versus Denmark in the quarterfinals.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Copyright ANS

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com