Biography of John Mikel Obi

Chelsea career
By Wilkipedia

On September 12, 2006, Mikel made his first start for Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League against Levski Sofia and took a powerful shot which the goalkeeper failed to save and Didier Drogba pounced on the rebound. Mikel received many positive comments for his performance in the match. However, since being sent off in a match against Reading on October 14, 2006, Mikel was fined on three separate occasions by Chelsea for turning up late to training.
At the time, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho was believed to have strong reservations about his lifestyle outside of Stamford Bridge and the club were reportedly considering offloading the player. Mikel was dropped for over a month, during which his father Michael voiced his concerns over his son's behaviour. After improved punctuality and showings at training sessions, Mikel earned a recall for Chelsea's Champions League group away game against Werder Bremen on November 23, 2006. Mikel scored his first goal for Chelsea in their 6–1 FA Cup victory over Macclesfield Town on January 6, 2007. He also scored against Nottingham Forest in the following round of the competition. During Chelsea's triumph in the League Cup Final in 2007, Mikel was sent off in injury time (having come on as a substitute) after clashing with Kolo Toure, the incident was followed by a huge fracas, in which Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor of Arsenal were sent off Cesc Fabregas and Frank Lampard were booked and José Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were involved in a kerfuffle on the pitch.
In subsequent games, Mourinho deployed Mikel as a starter in a holding role in key games where he impressed greatly, notably in the Chelsea versus Tottenham FA Cup 6th round replay, the Champions League Quarter-final games versus Valencia, the Champions League Semi-final games versus Liverpool and also the victorious FA Cup Final against Manchester United. Mikel's height and great strength, allied to good ball control and an unusually wide range of passing, allows him not only to disrupt opposing attacks, but also to spread the play effectively. With the departure of Claude Makele, Mikel has been widely tipped to be his successor in defensive midfield, and finally displaying the potential which persuaded Chelsea to pay £16m for him.
2007–08 Season


Mikel was sent-off for the third time in his career in September 2007, when Mike Dean dismissed him for a tackle on Manchester United defender Patrice Evra. Chelsea appealed against the red card but the three-match suspension was upheld.
He was also sent off in the semi-final of the Carling cup against Everton, for a challenge on Phil Neville. Despite this, he came back strongly to round off what has been a good first two seasons for him at Chelsea Football Club.
2008–09 Season
The summer of 2008 saw veteran midfielder Claude Makele transferred to French club Paris Saint Germain, leaving the defensive midfield position vacant. Throughout the 2008/09 season, Mikel has seen a great deal of playing time due to the injury to Michael Essien. During this period of increased action, Mikel has performed admirably in the role. His ever-improving game has been praised by former Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, and his importance to the team was underlined when he provided the free kick that Solomon Kalou scored to equalise against Manchester United. He has also go on to cement a better partnership with Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack. He played so well in 2008-2009 season that he was nominated for the club player and young player of the season. On the 22nd of July, Mikel signed a new 5-year contract with Chelsea.
International career
Mikel made his debut for Nigeria senior team on August 17, 2005, when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 friendly win over Lybia. He did not play for the national team again prior to being named in the squad for the 2006 African Cup of Nations. In Nigeria's first group game, which was 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. During the cup, Mikel said that he had been instructed not to make any public comments about his club career. FIFA is to investigate claims that Obi had received death threats.
Mikel was suspended from all Nigerian national teams. Berti Vogts, manager of the Nigerian national team, dropped Mikel from the team's squad for the African Nations' Cup qualifier against Niger, for failing to attend their previous match against Uganda. Mikel cited an injury, but because he did not attend an independent check by Nigerian officials, he was dropped. This, and his refusal to play for the Nigerian Under-23 side resulted in his suspension by the NFA. He has now apologized and has been called up to the National squad for the African Cup of Nations. During the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana, he scored 1 goal and registered one assist, both against Benin Republic, to help Nigeria qualify for the quarterfinals against hosts, Ghana where they narrowly lost 2-1. Mikel had been called up for the Under-23 side in preparation of the team's last olympic qualifier on March 26, 2008, needing a win to qualify. His failure to show up for any of the qualifiers again setting off some controversy with the U-23 team coach Samson Siasia, who dropped him from the Olympic squad amidst significant furor from the media.