Super Eagles skipper, John Obi Mikel, officially clocked 29, Friday, April 22.
Born in 1987 in Jos, Plateau State, the talented Chelsea midfield maestro has been around the Nigerian football scene for more than a decade now since featuring at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2003.
To mark the birthday of this iconic footballer, we highlight 12 career stats of the man who has made the no 12 jersey his birthright in more than 10 years at Stamford Bridge.
- Over two centuries of league appearances for Chelsea
Mikel has made an incredible 235 Barclays Premier League appearances for the Blues since his move in 2006.
- 37 yellow cards
The midfielder whose role is to shield the back four has been cautioned 37 times in 10 seasons for the Stamford Bridge outfit with his highest booking coming in the 2008/09 season where he received six yellow cards in 34 games.
- Single Red
No wonder he’s been criticised for being too cautious in his approach, Mikel has been sent off just once in the league for Chelsea which was in his first season against Reading in 2006.
- Pass accuracy six times his shot accuracy
One shocking attribute about Mikel’s style of play is that he contributes little going forward but rarely losses the ball – no wonder he possesses a pass accuracy of 90% and a dismal shot accuracy of 15%.
- One league goal in10 years
On September 21, 2013, Mikel scored his first and only Premier League goal for Chelsea in a 2–0 win against Fulham.
- Six appearances in two years for Lyn before Chelsea move
Prior to his move to Stamford Bridge, Mikel had only made six appearances for Norwegian side, Lyn Oslo, with two goals.
- Fifth most capped player in history
With 75 caps for the Super Eagles, Mikel is fifth all-time most capped player behind Vincent Enyeama, Joseph Yobo, Nwankwo Kanu and Mudashiru Lawal.
- Three AFCON appearances
Mikel has appeared in the Africa Cup of Nations thrice in 2006, 2008 and 2013 – which he won with Nigeria.
- One FIFA World Cup finals
Despite making his debut for the Super Eagles over 10 years ago, Mikel has only been to one FIFA World Cup – which was the 2014 – missing the 2010 edition due to injury.
- 11 titles at Chelsea
Mikel has had an illustrious career at Chelsea winning four FA Cups, two Premier and League Cups, one Community Shield, Champions and Europa Leagues.
- Five individual awards
Apart from the team accolades, Mikel has picked up five individual awards in his career. They are FIFA U-20 World Cup Silver football 2005, African Young Player of the Year (2005 and 2006) and Chelsea Young Player of the Year (2007 and 2008).
- Olympic, last puzzle in international career
Mikel has represented Nigeria at every cadre and featured for Chelsea at all major tournaments. But the Blues no 12 is yet to appear at the Olympics but could make the trip to Rio de Janeiro come August.
