John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, variously known as John Obi Mikel, John Mikel Obi or Mikel John Obi, is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chinese club Tianjin TEDA in the Chinese Super League and the Nigeria national team.
Mikel started his official football career at the age of 12 when picked as a talented footballer from over 3,000 young talents to play in Pepsi Football Academy, a team that at the time was well known for travelling across Nigeria scouting young footballers with the potential to play professionally. On 29 April 2005, a few days after Mikel turned 18, Premier League club Manchester United announced that it had struck a deal with Lyn to sign the player. On 12 September 2006, Mikel made his first start for Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League against Bulgarian club Levski Sofia and took a powerful shot which the goalkeeper failed to save and Didier Drogba pounced on the rebound. On 6 January 2017, Chinese club Tianjin TEDA signed Mikel by free transfer.
Mikel represented the Nigeria under-20 team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and won the Silver Ball for the second-best player at the tournament (behind Lionel Messi) as the Africans finished runner-up to Argentina. He made his debut for the Nigeria senior team on 17 August 2005, when he came on as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 friendly win over Libya.<\/P>","A7F9B63E25A659E5":"John Obi Mikel","DA5E7C1A0F1CB829A66A16651D2472FD":"Nigeria","82CBDCB828DBDF896209A361CA981BCF":"","F27CBDD6332F20A59321B0F4E9CF2AB8":"13","FA149E2002A43ED77C24C62CDFF094A5":"1","A16D5E6475634BB1C2248B183B7E41495B218039EB2EF0A3":"1","5E8F53D0A504BF86":"John Obi Mikel","8DC362CCE065919BCF40467C0DE6A7E8":"
CLUB
<\/U>Chelsea<\/STRONG>
Premier League: 2009–10, 2014–15
FA Cup: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2011–12
Football League Cup: 2006–07
FA Community Shield: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2011–12
UEFA Europa League: 2012–13
INTERNATIONAL
<\/U><\/STRONG>Nigeria
<\/STRONG>Africa Cup of Nations: 2013
2016 Summer Olympics : Bronze Medal
INDIVIDUAL
<\/U>FIFA World Youth Championship Silver Ball:
<\/STRONG>2005
African Young Player of the Year:
<\/STRONG>2005, 2006
Chelsea Young Player of the Year:
<\/STRONG>2007, 2008<\/P>","0A9B0394F31973591937C38F2F471911":"Trabzonspor,Middlesbrough,Tianjin Teda,Chelsea FC,Lyn Oslo FC,Plateau United","09702F2B27619389F07D77F05427B135":"2020-8-17","A16D5E6475634BB126EF698FB3550B8C":"0","0FCC2F07B9D0EBFD":"Stoke City","4678B5349347B7EB":"83kg","C6E00DEB351621C4":"35514","e_index":1};