Stoke City midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo has insisted that the role of Super Eagles skipper, John Mikel Obi can’t be filled by anybody in the team at present because of the leadership quality of the China-based player.
Mikel called Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr saying he won’t be available for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying doubleheader fixtures with the Mediterranean Knights of Libya over fitness issues and his place taken by Ahmed Musa.
Despite the way Musa performed in both games which the Eagles won in Uyo and Sfax, Tunisia to race to the top of Group E with nine points from three games, Etebo still feels that Mikell Obi’s unavailability left a big void that only the former Chelsea midfielder alone could fill.
“I must tell you the truth that we really need him in the national team because on the pitch of play is like the leader of the team,” Etebo told SportingLife.ng.
It is normal in every team to get someone that will be in charge of the team. He has got the experience and he is like a leader to everyone in the team. He wasn’t in both games because he called the coach and told him that he was not fit enough to partake of both matches.
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“He was sincere. We just want to thank him and we had to play the game in his absence. We were grateful that we got the six points.”