Soccer / john mikel obi

Fourteen months after announcing his retirement from international football, could we possibly see him returning to Nigeria's Super Eagles fold? Having featured in one of his least productive African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the last edition hosted by Egypt in June-July 2019. The then Eagles skipper, John Obi Mikel featured in just two of the Eagles 7 games in the tournament. A tournament which they eventually ended as the 3rd best team. Part of what may have contributed to his poor showing in the tournament was the fact that he had just moved to Middlesbrough in the January of 2019. The exertions of trying to compete and survive in the English Championship may have drained him physically. Fast forward to thirteen months later, he's moved to a new club, Stoke City FC. A refreshed John Obi Mikel seems to have regained his footballing mojo. Watching him play in Stoke City's last match against Preston North End, I saw a Mikel who was unarguably the best player on the field. He controlled the midfield, created chances and eventually gave the assist lead to the solitary goal that won Stoke City the game. Mikel's experience, leadership,technical ability and what he brought to the Super Eagles team was never in doubt. He still can bring that into the current Super Eagles team under coach Rohr. Going back to the question posed at the beginning of this article. A question which only Obi Mikel and the Eagles Technical Crew lead by Coach Rohr can answer. Fingers crossed!