Mikel John Obi: If Nigeria were organised we’d have won World Cup | David Hytner

Nigeria’s captain opens up on the ‘massive problems’ that derailed the team in 2014, life in China and the day he feared Sir Alex Ferguson would punch him

For Mikel John Obi, it was the boyhood dream that soured. “It was a disaster,” the Nigeria midfielder says of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil – his first involvement at a finals.

From the outside looking in, there was a depressingly familiar undercurrent in the form of a pay dispute between the Nigeria Football Federation and the players. It led to a boycott of training from the latter days before the last-16 tie against France, which they lost 2-0. From the inside looking out, it was simply toxic.

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from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2L9cfGn