The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Mikel

  • Mikel, Moses listed in 23 man-squad

    Despite his uncertain future at Chelsea under new boss Rafael Benitez, Nigeria’s Mikel Obi has been picked for the FIFA Club World Cup.

    Midfielder Mikel was the first casualty of the Benitez new era at Chelsea, when he was dropped to the bench for Wednesday’s goalless draw at home to London rivals Fulham.

    Compatriot Victor Moses has also been included on the Chelsea 23-man squad for the annual tournament to be played in Japan early in December.

    Benitez, who won the title with Inter Milan in 2010, will be seeking his second title with Chelsea, who begin action in the tournament with a match against either Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai or Monterrey on Thursday, December 13.

    All the teams for the competition have now been known with Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima to play Auckland City in a play-off for the quarter-finals with the winners to then play African champions Al-Ahly for the right to face South American champions Corinthians in the other half of the draw to Chelsea.

    The full Chelsea squad according to club official website is:

    Goalkeepers

    1 Petr CECH

    22 Ross TURNBULL

    40 HILARIO

    Defenders

    2 Branislav IVANOVIC

    3 Ashley COLE

    4 DAVID LUIZ

    19 Paulo FERREIRA

    24 Gary CAHILL

    26 John TERRY

    28 Cesar AZPILICUETA

    34 Ryan BERTRAND

    Midfielders

    6 Oriol ROMEU

    7 RAMIRES

    8 Frank LAMPARD

    11 OSCAR

    12 John MIKEL Obi

    17 Eden HAZARD

    21 Marko MARIN

    35 Lucas PIAZON

    Forwards

    9 Fernando TORRES

    10 Juan MATA

    13 Victor MOSES

    23 Daniel STURRIDGE

  • MIKEL OBI CONFESSES I WOULD ‘VE BEEN A D.J

    MIKEL OBI CONFESSES I WOULD ‘VE BEEN A D.J

    SUPER EAGLES midfielder, John Obi Mikel, has opened up on why he decided to launch a music label.

    Speaking with journalists at a public function recently, the ex-Lyn-Oslo ace revealed his love from the drums and guiltter .

    He said: “Apart from football, music is another thing I had passion for while I was growing up in Jos. I have so much emotional attachment to music. It lifts my soul and makes me happy. The arrival of MMM Records (Matured Money Minds) has gone a long way to show the deep love I have for music.”

    Mikel, who claimed the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea last term further noted that if not for the round-leather game, he would have opted for the entertainment industry.

    “I want to contribute my little quota to the growth of the music industry in Nigeria. I’m a good song writer and singer. If I wasn’t a footballer, I would have done well as a singer or a disc jockey (DJ)” he added.

     

  • Mikel: I didn’t quit over abuse

    Mikel: I didn’t quit over abuse

    Nigeria’s John Mikel Obi says he was riled by abuse on Twitter following his Champion’s League error on Wednesday, but denies it prompted him to quit the social networking site.

    The Nigerian turned over possession with a loose pass, allowing Juventus to level scores at 2-2, and cost Chelsea a point.

    He immediately became the target of vile, even racist abuse on Twitter and deleted his @Mikel12Official account soon after.

    But in an exclusive conversation with KickOffNigeria.com, Mikel made it clear it wasn’t about the abuse.

    “Not really. It wasn’t about that. I just closed it because I’m not really into it (Twitter). I really did not like being on it,” Mikel said.

    “I have always wanted to stop ever since I started. I’m a very private person. Social network is not my thing; I’m not good at it.”

    The Nigerian also admitted culpability for the goal, but says it’s time to move on “We all make mistakes in life. I feel terrible about it, but it’s not good to dwell on it.

    “We have other games coming up and we have to learn from our mistakes focus on the coming games.”

    However, Roberto Di Matteo has accused John Obi Mikel’s Twitter trolls of hiding behind their keyboards as he condemned the racist abuse of the midfielder.

    The Blues contacted the police over two ‘totally unacceptable, disgusting and abhorrent’ posts directed at Nigeria star Mikel following Wednesday’s Champions League draw with Juventus.

    The abuse occurred at around the same time Mikel deleted his Twitter account, although Chelsea insisted the 25-year-old had not been aware of it and had been intending to leave the social media site in any event.

    Manager Di Matteo said: ‘His intention was to close the account anyway. So it was a good reason to close it. The social media world, especially Twitter – because it’s anonymous and so on – it’s a dangerous vehicle to express yourself. I don’t think it’s fair. If somebody has to express his opinion, he should put his face to it.’

    The abuse of Mikel occurred after his mistake helped Juve come back from 2-0 down in Wednesday night’s Group E game, something for which the midfielder immediately apologised.

    News of the tweets about him emerged on the same night Lazio fans were accused of directing monkey chants at Tottenham’s black players in the sides’ Europa League clash at White Hart Lane.

    Di Matteo added: ‘There’s a lot of campaigns against (racism) and we have to try our best to fight it in every possible way.

    ‘We should try to make the people understand that it hurts other people, chanting and things like that.’

  • Mikel to Chelsea fans

    Mikel to Chelsea fans

    John Obi Mikel apologised for the mistake that cost Chelsea the chance to open their Champions League defence with a win after their 2-2 draw with Juventus.

    The holders blew a two-goal lead at Stamford Bridge Wednesday night, with a pair of defensive blunders costing them dearly against the Italian champions.

    Having allowed Juve to get back into the Group E clash before half-time, Chelsea looked set to eke out a 2-1 win before Mikel needlessly gave the ball away 10 minutes from time.

    He then failed to prevent Claudio Marchisio playing Fabio Quagliarella into space for the equaliser, with David Luiz also all at sea.

    “If I want to make up an excuse, I can,” Mikel said. But, for me, I gave the ball away. I put my hands up, we move on.

    “I’m sorry about the mistake, but there are no excuses.”

    Meanwhile, Chelsea have condemned racist abuse on Mikel on Twitter, after the midfielder deleted his account on Thursday.

    Mikel, 25, removed his profile from the social networking site less than 24 hours after his misplaced pass allowed Juventus to level in their 2-2 Champions League draw at Stamford Bridge.

    Chelsea originally insisted it was entirely coincidental that Mikel, who said he was entirely unaware of any abuse, had decided to delete the ‘Mikel12Official’ account he set up this summer.

    However, the club have since informed the police after being made aware of the developments. A statement read: “We’ve been made aware of racist tweets targeted at Mikel which are totally unacceptable, disgusting and abhorrent. We’ve informed the police and support taking the strongest possible action.”

  • October 13 AFCON 2013 qualifier: Mikel boost for Eagles

    October 13 AFCON 2013 qualifier: Mikel boost for Eagles

    • No return ticket for Osaze yet

     •Team list out next week

    Coach Stephen Keshi has included Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi for next month’s AFCON clash, a Glasshouse official has revealed

    Mikel opted out of the first leg in Monrovia, which finished 2-2, when it was first learnt that the game will be played on an astro turf pitch.

    Keshi’s programme was on Tuesday handed to the NFF technical department, according to top officials of the Federation.

    “The coach has plans to name a killer squad that would include Chelsea stars John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses,” the official said.

    Several top officials who accompanied the Eagles to Monrovia earlier this month clamoured for the recall of Mikel after the team’s midfield collapsed against a rampant home team.

    Mikel has yet to play under Keshi, who took charge of the Eagles in November.

    However, West Bromwich Albion striker Osaze Odemwingie will have to wait a little longer before he returns to the Eagles fold, another top official told MTNFootball.com.

    “For Osaze, he would just be returning from his three-match ban and the coach feels he has not seen enough of him so I don’t think he would be making the Liberia game,” the official revealed.

    Keshi is expected to name his squad for the AFCON return leg next week with the camp opening for home-based players in the first week of next month ahead of the rematch billed for October 13 at the U.J Esuene Stadium Calabar.

  • Keshi lists Mikel for AFCON tie

    Keshi lists Mikel for AFCON tie

    Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, has included Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi for next month’s AFCON tie with Liberia, MTNFootball.com reports.
    Mikel opted out of the first leg in Monrovia, which finished 2-2, when it was first learnt that the game will be played on an astro turf.
    Keshi’s programme was on Tuesday handed to the Nigeria Football Federation’s technical department, according to top officials of the glass house.
    “The coach has plans to name a killer squad that would include Chelsea stars John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses,” a top official told MTNFootball.com.
    Several top officials who accompanied the Eagles to Monrovia earlier this month clamoured for the recall of Mikel after the team’s midfield collapsed against a rampant home team.
    Mikel has yet to play under Keshi, who took charge of the Eagles in November.
    However, West Bromwich Albion striker, Osaze Odemwingie will have to wait a little longer before he returns to the Eagles fold, another top official told MTNFootball.com
    “For Osaze, he would just be returning from his three-match ban and the coach feels he has not seen enough of him so I don’t think he would be making the Liberia game,” the official revealed.
    MTNFootball.com also gathered that the Eagles coach is expected to name his squad for the AFCON return leg next week with the camp opening for home-based players in the first week of next month.
    The match will be played on October 13 in Calabar.

  • Yakubu, Mikel come tops•Emenike gets 42 million Euros buy-out clause

    JOSEPH Yobo, Mikel Obi and Yakubu Aiyegbeni are Nigeria’s biggest earners as they each pocket in excess of two million Euros a year.
    MTNFootball.com has again scooped that another top Nigerian earner in football is Spartak Moscow striker Emmanuel Emenike.

    Yobo is smiling all the way to the bank because his earnings are free of tax in Turkey, unlike when he was in England with Everton.
    “He’s on crazy money at Fenerbache and he is also playing week in, week out, which was not the case at Everton at a point,” a top source informed MTNFootball.com
    That could well explain why several more players from Nigeria have now moved to seek their fortune there – Kalu

    Uche (Kasimpasa), Raheem Lawal (Adana Demirspor) and Uche Kalu (Caysur Rizespor).

    “It is a good place for Nigerians to go to because the football is not bad and the money is good because it is free of any tax,” a top agent informed MTNFootball.com
    Yakubu has proved himself in the English Premier League by scoring double digit number of goals, season after season and so his decision to cash in on a final pay day in China, where he is reportedly on 100,000 pounds-tax free a week.

    His super agent Pini Zahavi has even before the striker’s move to China secured his financial future for him.
    Mikel is on 80,000 pounds a week at Stamford Bridge, but when he has to pay

    about 42% of that as tax, it leaves him with a little more than 40,000 pounds a week.

    He also received a hefty bonus when Chelsea made history by winning their first UEFA Champions League. But again it was heavily taxed.

    Emenike is also on a fabulous contract of about 2.5 million Euros a year, but in Russia he has to pay tax and that way he earns less than his national team skipper.
    Spartak have reportedly inserted a buy-out clause of 42 million Euros in Emenike’s contract after he extended his deal till 2016.

    Defender Taye Taiwo also bagged a super deal when he signed up with Italian giants AC Milan. He was on something like 335,000 Euros a month but tax and limited playing time would have eaten deep into this little fortune.