Former Super Eagles’ captain, John Mikel Obi has added his voice to ongoing condemnation of Liverpool legend, Jamie Carragher, for daring to tag the Africa Cup of Nations an unimportant competition.
Sports247 reports that Mikel aired his view during his podcast show on social media and used the opportunity to demand what he called ‘a massive apology’ from Carragher, who he slammed for demeaning a major continental championship that some people even die for.
Mikel added in a rather unusual heated outburst by the often soft-spoken former Chelsea of England midfielder, “Everyone likes to watch it, and my biggest dream while growing up was to win it for Nigeria. I also remember that, while growing up, I watched it with my dad and we were disappointed when we never got to win it. Every time we crash out of the tournament, it’s a disappointment for family and friends, while some people even die for it. People die from losing the Cup of Nations, and you try to discredit it? A tournament that I won, that I shed blood and tears for.”
Mikel went on to give Carragher a lesson in the intricacies of African football, which the battling ex-player, who was in Nigeria’s silver winning youth squad at Holland 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup and was skipper of the bronze medal clinching under-23 squad to Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, said is a passionate thing across the continent.
He pointed out, “Football is everything for us. It’s a culture. We watch football, we die for football, we eat football, we sleep football. I know people from Africa who support English teams because we African players play for those English teams.
“The African players we saw back in our days were special. We celebrate, we worship and we enjoy our football wherever it is. We can’t overlook the influx of players that helped build Chelsea football club, which is one of the biggest clubs right now in the Premier League.”
Mikel, who started his career abroad with Lyn Oslo of Norway and was almost bought by Manchester United before Chelsea snatched him from The Red Devils at the last minute of the 2006 summer transfer window, concluded by conceding that the mass exodus of African players to European leagues would not have been so if the game is organised better in their own countries.
“If our football is being run properly, if the people in charge run football properly, and everything follows according to instructions, do you think the players from Africa would be rushing to Europe to play? No, they wouldn’t! We love our homes.
“That does not mean we should be mocked by someone who never won anything for England. For him to come out and make such a statement is so wrong. I hope he will now come out and make a massive apology. He should know that people in Africa die for the Cup of Nations, and it’s one of the most difficult tournaments to win,” Mikel stressed with indignation in his voice.
Ironically, Mikel at a point, got quite worked up during the broadcast and even threw some expletives at Carragher, who he recalled could not even win the English Premier League during his days with Liverpool.
