SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr has lashed out at Chelsea manager Antonia Conte for refusing to field skipper Mikel Obi this season following his decision to play for the Nigerian U-23 team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
In objection to Chelsea's protests, Mikel agreed to skipper Nigeria to the Olympic Games in the summer, where the team picked up a bronze medal. Since he has returned the club, however, Mikel is yet to see any action as new manager Conte has frozen him out, amid claims he was not happy with the idea of going off to Brazil.
Speaking at the Eagles training camp in Uyo, where the team is preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Algeria on Saturday, Mr Rohr suggested that it was wrong to keep Mikel in the cooler. He added that Mikel was in top form but was only being ignored by Conte because of his decision to travel to Rio.
Mr Rohr said: “I cannot punish a player who loves his country and shows that he loves the green jersey. I spoke about this with Mikel and the club’s technical director and Mikel is training very well and he plays games in training with the big players at Chelsea.
“There is a reason why Mikel is not playing for Chelsea right now and that reason is because he played for Nigeria at the 2016 Olympics and was punished for that. Mikel is here with us and he is fit and I hope he can play for 90 minutes against Algeria but if it is not possible, we shall see."
He added that Mikel is a big player so if he says on Saturday he can play for 90 minutes, Mr Rohr said he will be allowed to. Adding that he has a lot of confidence in Mikel, Mr Rohr explained that he will wait to hear how the player feels on Saturday.
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