Mikel Obi Defends His World Cup Performance – “I Tried To Play For The Team”

Nigerian star midfielder John Mikel Obi has defended himself against criticism of his poor performance in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“I tried to do my best to work hard for the team. We play together and nobody wants to be a Maradona because in our team, everybody has to play for each other,” Mikel said in an interview with KickOffNigeria.

“All I wanted to do was work hard for the team and not to look for glory, but people don’t see that. “You don’t always have to dribble everybody to help the team. And the coach knows that I was doing my best.”

Mikel compared his performance at the mundial to his performance at the previous year’s Confederations Cup, admitting he fell short.

“The Confederations Cup was a learning experience for us, and I think I was a little more forward there, but now I had to do more work for the team.”