Rio Olympics: “Chelsea win has inspired me more,” Mikel writes
By Mikel Obi
I was already full of belief ahead of Nigeria’s semi-final against Germany tonight, but seeing the way Chelsea beat West Ham on Monday has inspired me even more.
Due to a training session with the Nigeria squad, I couldn’t watch the game live. But the moment I turned my phone on afterwards, I had loads of texts from people about the result and saw some of the highlights. The passion and commitment from the players, new manager and crowd was there for all to see and it is something we need to match against Germany.
We are going into the game in good spirits after a good 2-0 win over Denmark in the quarter-finals. I am in good form too after getting a goal and an assist. Some Chelsea fans may have been surprised to see me that far forward when I put us 1-0 up.
I know there has been banter among supporters, as well as Chelsea players in the dressing room, about my ability to find the net as I haven’t got many over the last 10 years!
Obviously Germany are a good team, but we haven’t been thinking too much about them.
Tonight, we face @DFB_Team in #Rio2016 semi-finals. I have some fond memories of playing the Germans 😉 #WeBelieve 🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/u6ma0gyA9T
— Mikel John Obi (@mikel_john_obi) August 17, 2016
I must admit we have been practising penalties just in case. We know Germany have a great record in shoot-outs, although it is our aim to win in 90 minutes.
As I said in the Evening Standard earlier this month, my dream is to win gold in Brazil. But it will be a huge boost to the rest of Team Nigeria if we beat Germany because that will at least guarantee our first medal. The country hasn’t got one yet and perhaps seeing the footballers succeed will help the others do the same.
Finally, you may have heard that some of the squad and officials were sent home on the eve of the game as a cost-cutting measure.
I feel sorry for the people that have gone and wish they were still here to support us, but I can assure you, it won’t distract us from our goal.
We have been through many things and come out the other side. This just gives us extra motivation to win.
First published on Evening Standard
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