Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has stated categorically that he will quit the game and face business pointing that he would not have anything to do with football which brought him fame and wealth.
Disclosing this exclusively to NFF media, Mikel said: ‘“Life after football? I don’t know if I will still be in the game, I have a lot of things going on. I like to do business, I’m a business guy so I don’t know if I will have time to be in the game.
I love the game but who knows, maybe one day, I might come back to the game but at this point, after football, I am not thinking about being in the game.”
Mikel also confirmed that this may be his last Africa Cup of Nations appearance for Nigeria since he made the Super Eagles debut in August 2005 in an international friendly game against Libya.
“I do not know but I think it may be (my last AFCON). I like to go every year and see how I feel. Obviously, the young players are coming, I think before the next one comes around again I will be 34 or so. I think this will probably be my last AFCON but I’m not 100 percent sure yet. I have given so much to this nation and at some point, you have to let go. I don’t want to overstay my welcome. I will leave when I feel the time is right. Let’s hope we can make it count.”
“I’m always hungry to win if I didn’t want to win then I would not be here. I don’t just want to come in and play the Nations Cup. I have played so many games and there is no point that I’m just coming to play.
I’ve come to win,” Mikel said.“And that’s the same mentality I want to put in the younger ones to win. I know for some of them, it is just their first time and they just want to play but they need to have the mentality of going to win. That is the mentality that I have and hopefully, I can translate this from my performance on the pitch and outside the pitch when talking to them. Hopefully, we can do great things in Egypt.”
Mikel has in his wardrobe of honours several awards including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, two Premier League titles and three FA Cups among other trophies. These feats were achieved played for Barclays English Premier league side, Chelsea, which will campaign at the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League, in spite of the fact that it won the last Europea cup in Baku, beating Arsenal 4-1 in the
final.
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Nigeria is pitched in Group B against Burundi, Guinea and Madagascar, with the Eagles’ opening game against Burundi slated to hold at the Alexandria Stadium on June 22.