Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has started preparations for the crucial World Cup Qualifiers clash against Zambia, where a a win will seal Nigeria passage to the 2018 soccer showpiece.
The World Cup takes place in the summer in Russia next year, the country where Mikel’s long term girlfriend and mother of his twin daughters Olga hails from. That alone has added extra motivation to Mikel’s desire to lead Nigeria to the tournament.
Already he has returned to full fitness for his Chinese side Tianjin Teda, but he is still doing extra drills on his own to improve his fitness ahead of the game against Zambia in Uyo. “The World Cup 2018 is special to Mikel. He has started extra drills ahead of the game against Zambia. He wants to lead his team from the front, and the best way to do it is to be fully fit”, his intermediary said.
“He (Mikel) is getting games in China on a regular basis for his club, but he still does extra fitness and tactical drills strictly for the sake of the game against Zambia, which he expects to be a lot faster and more physical than the league games in China.”