Captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Mikel Obi has explained the reason behind his decision to stay away from the Nigeria national team after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Mikel didn’t play for the Super Eagles in any of the qualifiers for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations but returned to the team for the tournament proper which will take place in Egypt later this month.
Speaking at yesterday’s press conference, the former Chelsea ace explained that his decision had nothing to do with events that happened at the World Cup where Nigeria crashed out of the tournament in the group stages.
He said he spoke with Rohr and decided to have a break from the team as he has been involved with the Nigeria national team for the past 15 years, starting from when he played at the 2003 U17 World Youth Championship in Finland.
” To be honest nothing really happened, I think I had a conversation with the coach, we have a very good understanding and you know yes I had few injuries after the World Cup and also I think for me I just needed a bit of rest, because to be honest I’ve been doing this for over 15 years now with the national team since I started with the U17″, he said.
“I think you know if you’ve been doing something for that long at some time you’ll need rest and I had a good conversation with the coach, coupled with the injuries, you know what I will take some time off, regroup and hopefully when we get to the nations cup I will be around to help the team and that’s exactly what happened”.
