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Footballers are hardly very active on social media and as a result, they are rarely found in an awkward position such as the one that happened to former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel after the Nigerian was tricked to believing a fake quote from Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves on the Internet.

John Obi Mikel was tricked to believing that Portuguese midfielder Neves referred to him as a ‘professor of football’ during his chat with the media. John Obi Mikel was delighted with the praise he received from the fake Neves quote and even reposted on his official Instagram account with the caption: ‘I’m honoured’. Continue reading HOW MIKEL WAS TRICKED WITH QUOTE

Former Nigeria international midfielder Joh Obi Mikel has revealed that it still hurts him how the Super Eagles were knocked out of the tournament. Following a stunning performance in all of their group games which saw them become the only team to win every single game in the group stages, Nigeria suffered a miserable 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tunisia in their first game of the knockout rounds. Tunisia and Nigeria were drawn against each other in the round of 16 but even though the latter were expected to go through to the next round, the former were the ones who sealed qualification by a goal to nil.

Nigeria head coach Austin Egoaven fielded a string starting XI and expected his side to get the job done but it was a tough evening for his men as they were unable to break the deadlock. The first-half ended goalless with the two teams failing to open the scoring at the break. The start of the second half was a continuation of how the first one ended and both teams continued to find a way through. However, the tide went in Tunisia’s way as they finally got a goal just after the 60th minute.

To make matters worse for Nigeria, Everton attacker Alex Iwobi was shown a Red card for a challenge on an opponent. The Super Eagles were then reduced to ten men and the job became even tougher for them.

The game eventually ended in a 1-0 victiry to Tunisia and Nigeria were sent crashing out of the tournament they looked likely to win from the beginning. Mikel has now revealed that he still feels gutted at how the team were knocked out of the competition, buttressing that the group of players really had something to offer but were just unlucky.

Chelsea announced that they won’t be renewing the contract of John Obi Mikel who spent eleven years at the club. The announcement was made on November 4, 2016. He left the club at the end of his contract in West London in the summer of 2017. While he was still a Chelsea player, Chinese team Tianjin TEDA revealed that they have signed the Nigerian midfielder on a free transfer on January 6, 2017. He was at Tianjin TEDA until November 2018 when the 2018 Chinese Super League season ended.

After his two-year spell in China, John Obi Mikel signed for Middlesbrough in the English Championship on a short-term. The midfielder signed for Boro during the 2019 winter transfer window. He scored once in 19 games for Boro as they finished seventh at the end of the 2018/19 season narrowly missing out on a play-off spot. The first two teams qualified for the Premier League automatically while the next four teams till sixth spot battled for the third slot. He was released at the end of his contract at the club.

John Obi Mikel signed a two-year deal when he joined Turkish Super League side Trabzonspor in the summer of 2019 with the option for a third year. The Nigerian player left Trabszonspor on March 17, 2020 by mutual consent a few days after expressing his concerns about the continuation of league matches in the Turkish top flight amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Mikel returned to the English Championship to sign for Stoke City at the start of last season. He played his first game for the Potters in a goalless draw at Millwall on September 13, 2020. He was a key player for Stoke City last season making 41 appearances in all competitions as they finished 14thspot in the Championship at the end of the season. He cancelled his Stoke City contract to sign for Kuwait SC last summer and didn’t last more than four months at the club before his contract was terminated.

John Obi Mikel was in the Chelsea squad that saw off rivals Manchester United on penalties to win the 2009 FA Community Shield. The retired Nigerian international was in the Chelsea starting line-up for the Manchester United game as far as the 2009 FA Community Shield is concerned.

Manchester United qualified to play in the 2009 FA Cup Community Shield after winning the 2008/09 Premier League title, while Chelsea were the 2008/09 FA Cup champions. The 2009 FA Community Shield was a repeat of the 2007 FA Community Shield which ended in a penalty shootout.

For the 2007 FA Community Shield, Manchester United took the lead through Ryan Biggs on 35 minutes before Frenchman FlorentMaloudaequalised for the Blues on the stroke of half-time. The two teams failed to score in the second half and that paved the way for the dreaded penalty shootout which Manchester United won 3-0. John Obi Mikel played the entire duration of the 2007 FA Community Shield as Chelsea players namely Frank Lampard, Claudio Pizarro and Shaun Wright-Philips all missed during the penalty shootout, while Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick scored their penalties to lead Manchester United to the 2007 FA Community Shield triumph.

Wayne Rooney scored for Manchester United in the 92nd minute to force penalties via a 2-2 draw at the end of regulation time. Luis Nani had earlier given the Red Devils a tenth minute lead before Chelsea goals from Ricardo Carvalho and Frank Lampard in the second half turned the game on its head.

John Obi Mikel featured for the whole game during the 2009 FA Community Shield just like what was obtainable with the 2007 edition. Chelsea were able to seal the win in the 2009 FA Community Shield thanks to the 4-1 penalty shootout win over Manchester United.

In-form Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has named John Obi Mikel and Didier Drogba as his football idols. The Super Eagles player mentioned Ivorian football icon Drogba and John Obi Mikel as his football idols while he was on William Troost-Ekong’s YouTube page.

John Mikel Obi and Didier Drogba played together for Chelsea for several years, winning a lot of titles including the Champions League title in 2012. Napoli striker Osimhen came into the Super Eagles squad around the time that John Obi Mikel was calling time on his career with the team. Continue reading OSIMHEN NAMES HIS TWO FOOTBALL IDOLS

Ex-Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has revealed the attack on him from John Mikel Obi shortly after he was the centre referee for the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Manchester United.

In his autobiography titled ‘Whistle Blower’, Clattenburg detailed the incident that happened during and after the Premier League encounter between hosts Chelsea and Manchester United. According to him, the incident almost ruined his life and that John Mikel Obi stormed his dressing room after the match and tried to attack him. Continue reading REF REVEALS ATTACK ON HIM

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It is the dream of every club in Europe to get their hands on the UEFA Champions League title and whenever any club does achieve that feat, it is usually a sensational feeling that the players have. It is the same feeling that the Chelsea players who all participated in the 2012 final had after their game against German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.

Chelsea and Bayern set up a final between themselves after a brilliant run which started from the group stage of the competition. Their brilliant runs saw the two sides find their way through the group stages, the knockout stages, and the semi and quarter-finals as well before they faced off in the last game of the competition that year. Continue reading MIKEL REVEALS WHAT HE TOLD ROBBEN IN 2012

Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi opted to join Kuwait Sports Club rather than stay in the English Championship with Stoke City.

John Mikel Obi was a free agent when he joined the Potters last summer and he proved to be a good signing for the club. He was a regular in the Stoke City starting XI last season as the club failed to make enough push to secure a place in the playoffs. As a matter of fact, John Mikel Obi had the second most minutes amongst Stoke City players last season behind Harry Southar.

Retired Super Eagles star John Mikel Obi was eligible to continue his football career at Stoke City after a new one-year deal was triggered but the player decided to move to the Asian nation of Kuwait. His decision to leave the Potters and join Kuwait Sports Club was revealed last month.

On the exit, Stoke City boss Michael O’Neill had nice words to say about John Mikel Obi whom he praised for his influence on and off the pitch. The ex-Northern Ireland national team boss didn’t want Mikel to leave the club but he understands his decision. According to him, Stoke City had an agreement with John Mikel Obi to let him leave if a good offer comes for him.

Stoke City boss O’Neill revealed that Mikel played the required amount of games necessary to trigger a new deal at the Bet365 Stadium. The Potters manager said it’s sad to lose the services of a player like the Nigerian midfielder who has achieved a lot in the game.

O’Neill has already made the move to strengthen his midfield on the back of Mikel’s exit. Mario Vrancic has joined O’Neill at Stoke City this summer after helping Norwich City to secure Premier League promotion by winning the Championship title.

Former Super Eagles midfielder John Obi Mikel has tipped the Nigerian national football team to put in a strong performance at the forthcoming African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament which is set to start in a few months. The ex-Chelsea midfielder has revealed that even though he is no longer able to feature for Nigeria after already retiring from playing for the country, he still follows them closely and stated that they have a couple of excellent players in every department of the team.

Nigeria last won the AFCON trophy back in 2013 and Mikel was not only a part of the team that clinched the title, but he was also a very important player for the Super Eagles and carried out a key role in leading the side to victory under the team’s former head coach Stephen Keshi. Since retiring from the Nigerian national team, Mikel has continued his club football career at England’s Championship side Stoke City. His fine form since signing for the Potters has led to fans asking why he went ahead to quit playing for his country when he still had a lot to offer at the top level.

However, Mikel has said that he has continued to show his support for the Super Eagles and has even tipped them to make a huge statement in the forthcoming edition of the African Cup of Nations tournament.

Speaking on his assessment of the current squad, Mikel said that Nigeria’s head coach Gernot Rohr has done nicely well in terms of his choice of player selections and that he hopes those players can show what they are truly capable of because they all have top talents. He however cautioned them to be wary of the other participating countries and mentioned that they would not be there for the fun of it. Hence, the Super Eagles should be ready.

Nigerian midfielder John Mikel Obi has signed a one-year contract extension at English Championship outfit Stoke City until 2022.Stoke City see the ex-Super Eagles player as an important member of their squad and they have decided to give him a contract extension.

John Mikel Obi, 34, would have been a free agent this summer if his contract was not extended as his previous deal was set to expire at the end of the month. The decision to extendhis contract was confirmed in a statement from the club.

The statement said the club has activated the contract extensions for both 34-year-old midfielder John Mikel Obi and 32-year-old defender James Chester. However, 27-year-old midfielder Jordan Cousins was released after two years at the club. He made 45 appearances in two seasons at the Bet365 Stadium. Cousins will leave the Potters this summer at the end of his contract with the club.

Retired Nigerian international John Mikel Obi signed for Stoke City last year shortly after leaving Turkish Super League clubTrabzonspor and has become an important part of the team.

Stoke City didn’t meet their target of securing a playoff spot at least at the end of the recently concluded Championship season . The Potters could only finish in mid-table (14th place with 60 points from 46 games). A playoff spot would have given Stoke City the chance to fight for a place in next season’s Premier League. London club Brentfordtook the only available Premier League spotvia the playoffs whileChampionship winners Norwich City and runners-up Watford picked the other two available slots for Premier League football next season.

John Mikel Obi previously played for clubs like Chelsea, Lyn Oslo of Norway and Tianjin Teda in the Chinese league. While he was at Chelsea, the Nigerian won the Champions League trophy. He featured in 41 of the 46 league games this season.