Nigeria Coach Gernot Rohr Reacts To Mikel's Move To Middlesbrough

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr has expressed happiness over Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel's move to EFL Championship side Middlesbrough.

The German football tactician revealed that the Super Eagles captain chose Boro ahead of his other suitors, not limited to AS Roma and Wolfsburg, because he wants to be close to his family who remained in the United Kingdom after he transferred to Tianjin Teda in January 2017.

''We are very happy about it because he has not played for a long time, Obi Mikel is a player who is willing to play now and wanted to come back to Europe, his family is staying there,'' Rohr said.

''I am happy for him he can find a good club again. Now, we will watch what he is doing, he needs a little time perhaps to come back into the rhythm of the matches.

''We want him to come back to the national team like other players. If he is playing well with his new team, he stands a chance of coming back to us, but he has not told me he will quit the team.

''He remains the captain of the team till he says otherwise, we will be happy to have him back for his experience.''

Obi Mikel, 31 trained with his new teammates on Thursday morning ahead of Saturday's FA Cup fourth round tie against Newport County.

Falcons Chase Bronze Against Romania In China

Nigeria’s female national team, Super Falcons will on Sunday battle Romania for the chance of a bronze medal consolation at the Wahun Four-nation Invitational Competition in China, after falling 3-0 against the hosts on Thursday, footballlive.ng reports. Coach Thomas Dennerby’s team put up a gallant battle against the Chinese Steel Roses but could not hold on till the end at Meizhou Olympics Sports Centre, and will now battle for third place against Romania, who lost 3-0 to South Korea in the first game. Falcons’ coach, Thomas Dennerby admitted that winning Sunday’s third place match will be a consolation for his side, but also noted that they have gained crucial lessons from the competition, which is his first build-up outing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. The Swedish gaffer said the Falcons will not aim to pick something from their next game at Huitang Stadium, which will begin 8am Nigeria time. Dennerby said: “We are here to prepare for the FIFA World Cup and...

Nigeria: Ebuehi, Abdullahi Set to Rejoin Super Eagles

Tyrone Ebuehi, who has started training after a long injury lay off, is expected to rejoin the Super Eagles ahead of the AFCON qualifier against Seychelles…in March. By Christian Okpara Super Eagles' Defender, Tyrone Ebuehi, who has been out of the national team since he copped an injury last year, may rejoin the team ahead of the last African Nations Cup Super Eagles' Defender, Tyrone Ebuehi, who has been out of the national team since he copped an injury last year, may rejoin the team ahead of the last African Nations Cup qualifier against Seychelles and the friendly matches lined up as preparatory games for the AFCON. Also likely to rejoin the Eagles is Shehu Abdullahi, who played his first game in three months at the weekend. Ebuehi played for the Eagles at the Russia 2018 World Cup, but he has been kept away from the team by a left anterior cruciate ligament injury he copped in a pre-season game for his club, Benfica against Juventus. Last year...

Arsenal's Iwobi Named Third Best U25 Midfielder In Europe Top Five Leagues In

Nigeria international Alex Iwobi has been named the third best U25 midfielder in Europe's top five leagues in one key stat. Though the Gunners number 17 has been criticized in recent games, especially against Manchester City on Sunday, a new performance indicator published by Ashwin Raman of Football Whispers suggests the Super Eagles star has lived up to expectations this season. Raman analyzed the matches in the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A using advances stats and has ranked the top 20 midfielders and attacking midfielders with 850+ minutes for open play xG+xA/90. It is a methodology of giving marks to each shot or pass and adding them to get a number, showing how much a player could / should have been decisive, on average per match. The top midfielder is Diogo Jota of Wolverhampton Wanderers (0.47) followed by RB Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer (0.43), then Iwobi at 0.43. Tottenham Hotspur's Dele Alli (0.42) and ...

Naija Futbal Plus

Search This Blog