John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses are easily Nigeria’s biggest players in terms of their potential, yet they have not expressed their skills in a manner that would leave the fans in awe. A few times Mikel and Moses shone in matches, but they have not been consistent. And that is the missing link between great stars and the others. It is this second order role that has swept Moses and Mikel out of Chelsea, not their skills.
Weekly, we read about their being placed on Chelsea’s sack list, not because they are not talented but they cannot compete with the best. How I wish these Europeans knew how talented these guys are. But would you blame Chelsea’s management for their decision where, for instance, those who play in their positions do the needful, scoring goals. The essence of the game is scoring goals, which decides matches.
Indeed, not a few would remember that in 2005 Mikel was rated second best player to Barcelona star Lionel Messi. Need I compare the transformation between Mikel and Moses? Or have we forgotten the efforts made by England to snatch Moses, until he opted to play for Nigeria? You can only become a big player if you take your country’s matches seriously, since European clubs rely on national team performance to evaluate their targets for each season.
Messi, Ibrahimovic, Aguero, Ronaldo, Zidane, Henry, Kompany, Casillas (when he was younger), Veiria, Beckham, Robben, Dunga, Ronaldo de Lima et al sacrificed everything to play for their countries, in spite of their commitments and tight club schedules. A player joins the exclusive group of “greats” when he has contributed greatly to his national team, although there are exceptions such as George Opong Weah, and the world knows why.
Interestingly, Weah’s performance in all his European teams drew the world’s attention to his war-torn country, Liberia. Little wonder he is still dreaming of being Liberia’s president, after a failed attempt. Can any Nigerian player seek to be president? That will be the day because many would be asking what informed such a decision. Not so for Weah, who bankrolled all Liberia’s games in his quest to play at the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa.
What would this writer gain to highlight Samuel Eto O Fils’ contributions to Cameroon’s soccer and how his people perceive him? Will it not be repetition to disclose Didier Drogba’s contributions to Ivory Coast’s soccer and service to his fatherland? Eto’O and Drogba are celebrated in world soccer today and rightly so.
Only Nwankwo Kanu and possibly Austin Okocha, Victor Ikpeba, Emmanuel Amuneke and the late Rashidi Yekini can match these stars’ all-round contributions with their feats. No prize for guessing right these players won the African Footballer of the Year diadem, except Okocha. My heart still aches that CAF robbed Okocha of that honour with its mindless decisions. Kanu, Okocha, Amuneke, the late Yekini and Ikepba played their hearts out for Nigeria, hence they benched their European counterparts during matches. But Kanu et al are not the reason for this discussion.
Mikel is easily Nigeria’s biggest export to European soccer. But his off field behaviour has been awful, leading many to tag the Chelsea star as arrogant. I share a different view. I feel strongly that Mikel needs help before he presses the self-destruct button. I would rather suggest that Mikel employs a public relations manager to burnish his image, or he would lose the goodwill he has acquired from playing the beautiful game.
Mikel’s interpersonal relationship with his Nigerian mates has been nothing to write home about. Stories have been bandied in the media of how difficult it is for anyone to contact Mikel outside the country. Many coaches have experienced difficult times reaching Mikel. Frustrated Eagles managers have written him off. They speak of leaving on Mikel’s answering machine messages which he never returns. No courtesy. Mikel only gets to acknowledge these messages when the media is agog with bad stories. His manager reaches out to explain what may have kept Mikel incommunicado.
Not many players have his telephone numbers. No problem with that because he has the right to pick his friends. But as the new Eagles captain, he must every player’s contacts like Stephen Keshi did with many Nigerians when he was the doyen of the game in Europe. Yet, Samson Siasia, in his wisdom chose Mikel as captain. I don’t fault this decision entirely, given Mikel’s pedigree in the game. But, Mikel’s conduct and his attitude towards people are unimpressive and he needs a rebirth, no matter who he thinks he is.
Ordinarily, as the incumbent captain of the Super Eagles, he ought to be the chief host of the Joseph Yobo testimonial, especially as most of the players slated for the game were coming from Europe. As the Eagles captain, he should have arrived one week before the game to ensure that the logistics towards a flawless entry into Nigeria and exit from Port Harcourt from the world stars invited was guaranteed. What affects one, affects all, the old dictum goes, dear Mikel.
I’m shocked to read that Mikel stayed out of the Yobo Testimonial on alleged spurious grounds of his name not being listed among the stars advertised for the event. I don’t want to believe that Mikel missed the game because of flight tickets and accommodation. These are ridiculous tales. Mikel, you can do better than this.
My understanding of how testimonials are organised is that those to be listed on the billboards are ex-internationals known to the people. The essence is for the fans to throng the stadium to watch live some of the stars that they have been seeing on television. Since testimonials are novelty games, retired stars are more on the two sides since those on either side may have played with the retiree – in this case Yobo or his friends.
I also don’t want to think that Mikel was suffering from inferiority complex because he has won everything that most of the players who came for the game have. Perhaps, those who are bigger than Mikel are Eto’O and Nwankwo Kanu, former African Footballers of the Year. But is that enough reason for Mikel to stay out of the game? I’m sure that if Mikel was on ground in Port Harcourt and could be easily assessed, Eto’ O wouldn’t have had difficulty in securing a landing permit for his private jet at the airport in the Garden City.
Such details would have been highlighted by his meeting with the host of the event, Barrister Nyesom Wike, and he would have known what to do if Eto’O’s private jet’s details and arrival time were provided. Mikel must feel guilty in his quiet moments that a former teammate, Eto’O, had such a difficulty in his country. Mikel, it won’t happen to you, if Eto’O organises a testimonial when he quits the game. This is another point, dear Mikel.
Let somebody please tell me that Mikel wasn’t in Nigeria when the game was played. If he was, it is rather unfortunate. It means that the theory that he was angry with the organisers for not giving him flight tickets to attend the game was not true. Really! How much is a return ticket from London to Port Harcourt? Even if Mikel was in the country 24 hours to the game, if he chartered a jet from Lagos to Port Harcourt, it won’t be anything near his weekly pay at Chelsea. Dear Mikel, you must apologise to Yobo and others.
What Yobo did with the testimonial was to introduce a new dimension on how our stars should be celebrated. Yobo’s testimonial challenged the NFF chieftains to do a rethink on how to honour former players after Emmanuel Emenike’s brickbat over the clash in dates of the event with Nigeria’s game against Mali in France, little wonder they freed Eagles’ captain and vice-captain, Ahmed Musa for the game. But, Emenike must be told that FIFA’s free windows have been fixed long before Yobo thought of organising the game. Next time, the organisers should check FIFA’s calendar to fix the dates to avoid such clashes in fixtures.
Dear Mikel, you can see why you should have been in Port Harcourt to honour Yobo. I wonder who Mikel thinks would participate in his testimonial when he quits. Mikel can as well say “who cares”. Testimonials tell the story about stars which would help shape the future stars’ perception about playing soccer as a career.
Dear Mikel, Eto O didn’t sleep in Port Harcourt, which makes a mockery of your alleged request for accommodation as a condition to play in the testimonial. Eto O arrived on match day and departed before midnight. How about that? I’m sure Mikel didn’t make these demands. Tell me, dear Mikel the true story surrounding your absence from Yobo’s testimonial.
I wonder how Mikel hopes to rally the younger players in the Eagles to do his bidding when he loathes others and refuses to attend functions that affect players. Respect begets respect, dear Mikel.
