Former Nigeria national team captain John Obi Mikel has shared his thoughts on why the country failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Mikel returned to Nigeria for a charity event and spoke with Nigerian journalist Femi Solaja in an interview that was published in the Nigerian daily Thisday.
When asked why he believes the Super Eagles did not qualify for the World Cup after losing to Ghana by an away goal, he cited the absence of the true leader on the squad.
Ghana drew 0-0 with the Super Eagles in the first leg and drew 1-1 in the second leg in Abuja.
"I was busy with my kids putting them to bed before the game and on the match schedule, I searched all channels and I couldn't choose it and I had to rely on internet monitoring. It was very painful that we didn't qualify because it's been a long time, we've experienced disqualification (the 2006 German finals)," he said.
"It was strange and I felt very sad because I can't imagine watching the FIFA World Cup without Nigeria and it's even more painful to lose the possibility of qualifying at home. It's weird and I just hope we've learned some lessons looking forward to the next four years. I remembered the last edition in Russia when we qualified with nearly three games until the end of the qualifying round of matches,"
"We were motivated, we had a direction on the pitch, we had a leader on the field. All 11 players were listening to only one player on the pitch, not many leaders on the pitch. We need a leader in the field for others to follow. It doesn't take five leaders, but only one, because when you have four or five people giving instructions on the field, it's not a unit," he concluded.