By Arinze Ude
The 25 year-old midfield marshal was born in Jos on 22 April 1987.
He made his mark at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands where Nigeria lost to a Messi-led Argentine side in the final. He was named silver ball winner at the end of the tournament just behind the martian, Lionel Messi. He was also named Africa’s Young player of the year in 2005 and 2006.
Mikel played briefly for Plateau United in the Nigerian Premier League before he was taken to Norway by agent, John Shittu to sign for Lyn Oslo FC.
His heroics at the 2005 World Cup Championship sparked a tug of war between Manchester United and Chelsea, which prompted FIFA to intervene and asked Chelsea to pay Manchester United 12 million pounds in compensation.
He made his Super Eagles debut in a friendly against Libya in 2005. He made his AFCON debut in Egypt 2006 against Zimbabwe, assisting Christian Obodo’s goal and scoring the second as Nigeria ran out 2-nil winners.
He was suspended by the Nigerian Football Association prior to the 2008 edition of AFCON due to his failure to report for national duties, citing injuries as reason.
After apologizing, he was named in Nigeria’s squad for 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana where he scored one goal and assisted another to aid his team qualify for the Quarter-finals where they were thrown out of the competition by host, Ghana.
In 2008, with the U-23 team needing a win to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, coach Samson Siasia called up the gifted midfielder to boost his team’s chances of qualification but Mikel failed to show up for the crucial encounter feigning injury. Siasia responded by dropping him from the squad for the tournament, where they took the silver medal, narrowly losing the final to Argentina.
Mikel is yet to play at the World Cup finals after he was ruled out of the 2010 edition through injury.
Despite missing from the spot in Eagles’ second match against Zambia, he has been in outstanding form for Nigeria at the ongoing AFCON in South Africa with his timed tackles, tremendous passing ability and box-to-box display.
He’s been involved in a number of goals for the Super Eagles, assisting Emmanuel Emenike and Ahmed Musa for their goals against Ivory Coast (Quarter-finals) and Mali (Semi-finals) respectively.
He’s been a maverick in Eagles’ midfield and made unarguably the tackle of the tournament in the Quarter final win over Ivory Coast.
With the game locked at 1-all, Mikel slid under Ivory Coast midfielder, Max Gradel, who was through on goal, to push the ball out for a corner.
Mikel is expected to start the final and he will try to impose himself on the likes of Jonathan Pitroipa and Christian Kabore and help his side lift their first AFCON title since 1994.
This will add to the numerous titles he’s won in his short career. He’s one of the most decorated players to come out of Nigeria. He’s won the English Premier League, FA Cup, Community Shield, UEFA Champions League, and the League Cup, with his club side, Chelsea.
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This article was first published on 8th February 2013 and updated on February 9th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
pagboga
Chojare Pamela Agboga is a Legal Practitioner, Writer, Editor, Chartered Secretary and Administrator. She is currently working on her first novel 'Weekends are for Loving' as well as a devotional for women.
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