Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, has described Mikel Obi as an exemplary player who gave his all to the senior national team.
He made this remarks after the former Chelsea star announced his retirement from football on Tuesday.
In a tweet via his Twitter handle, Musa wrote: “You have been an exemplary player and done great things in your career.
“Here’s wishing you the best as you retire today. Cheers to bigger things ahead and best wishes to you and the family.”
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Mikel Obi, on Tuesday, confirmed he was hanging up his boots in a post via his Instagram account.
The 35-year-old retired after a successful career with Nigeria and at the club level.
The Nigerian great enjoyed enormous success during his 11-year stint at west London as he amassed a total of six goals and 13 assists in 372 appearances.
The 35-year-old won two Premier League titles, three FA Cup trophies, the 2007 League Cup and the 2013 Europa League. He was also part of the Chelsea team that won the Champions League trophy for the first time in 2012.
International career
Mikel represented the Nigeria under-20 team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and won the Silver Ball for the second-best player at the tournament (behind Lionel Messi) as the Africans finished runner-up to Argentina.
He made his debut for the Nigeria senior team on 17 August 2005, when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 friendly win over Libya. He did not play for the national team again prior to being named in the squad for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations. In Nigeria’s first group game, against Ghana, Mikel was an unused substitute. However, he was introduced into the second game against Zimbabwe early in the second half.
Within ten minutes of coming on, he had supplied both the corner that resulted in Christian Obodo heading the game’s opening goal, and scored Nigeria’s second goal. He made his first international start in Nigeria’s final group game, a 2–1 victory over Senegal.
