Exclusive: Captain Mikel Praises ‘cooperating’ Eagles players, optimistic of victory in Alexandria
Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel is full of praise for his supportive Super Eagles teammates.
The Chelsea midfielder who recently became the captain of the Super Eagles, expressed his pride and happiness at leading the Eagles. In an exclusive interview with sportlineng.com he talked about the Unity in the Eagles camp and what it means to captain the national team.
When asked if the captain armband was heavy for him, he laughed and said: “I think I have been doing this, its not different from what I have been doing for the past 11 years since I debuted for the Super Eagles.
“I am happy I have group of guys that listen to me during training and games, these guys are all good guys.
“They’ve always listened to me, I have always had the leadership quality and leading them wasn’t anything different just that I have the armband now.
“I am just doing exactly the same thing I have been doing in the past.”
He further talked about why the team looked lively in the 2nd half of the game against Egypt in Kaduna.
“It was a tactical game, we didn’t want to lose or be stupid, attacking and concede a goal in the first 10-15 and make things difficult for ourselves. “It was a bit cagey so we decided to sit back a little bit but still have control of the game and not to be stupid with the way we attack.
“We were a little careful we definitely didn’t want to concede in the first 15-20 minutes, we wanted to be in the game at the later stage. We knew all we needed was 3 points not 5 goal margin win.
“I think in the 2nd half we decided to push a bit more and change our approach and we decided to go for it.
“We created more chances and got a goal, and after that we had control of the game, the guys felt a bit more confident, more freer to express themselves which was good, but It was unfortunate to concede the way we did.”
He is optimistic the Eagles can beat the Pharaohs if they can play like they did in Kaduna: ” I am very optimistic like the coach, I think with the way we played on Friday we have a very good chance of beating Egypt in Alexandria.”