MIKEL OBI GOES FOR MILESTONE 85TH CAP IN ENCOUNTER WITH ARGENTINA

BY KUNLE SOLAJA, ST. PETERSBURG.

Super Eagles’ skipper, Mikel Obi may this Tuesday get the opportunity of  playing his 85^th  international game when Nigeria face Argentina for the eighth time.

With that, Mikel remains the fifth most capped Nigerian international. Incidentally, all those before him were also skippers of the Nigerian national teams.

Those that attained the 85^th match before now were Muda Lawal on June 23, 1985; Nwankwo Kanu on January 6, 2010; Joseph Yobo on October 11, 2011 and Vincent Enyeama on June 17, 2013.

Nigeria did not lose the matches in which those players made their 85^th appearance. That is the burden Mikel Obi possibly carry as he is expected to lead Nigeria against a strong opposition like Argentina and also under an inclement weather condition which is expected to drop to almost freezing point.

When Muda Lawal had his 85^th cap, Nigeria played a 1-1 away draw with Cote d’Ivoire on June 23, 1985.

The result was a goalless draw for Nwankwo Kanu as he came off the bench to replace Yakubu Aiyegbeni in a pre-Africa Cup of Nations friendly match with Zambia to earn his 85^th cap.

For Yobo, his 85^th cap was a match played in Abuja, Tunisia and it ended 2-2 as Nigeria drew with Guinea on October 8, 2011. Vincent Enyeama got a winning game in his 85^th cap. Nigeria won 6-1 against Tahiti in a FIFA Confederations Cup in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

It is expected that Mikel’s 85^th cap will bring similar good fortune when the Super Eagles face Argentina on Tuesday.

Mikel is a man of record. He belongs to the class of few players in the world who had featured in all FIFA’s final competitions having featured in U-17, U-20, U-23 Olympic tournament, FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA Confederations Cup and FIFA World Cup.

With that, he has taken an eternal step over Lionel Messi who never featured in U-16 and will never do so.

MIKEL OBI’S PREVIOUS 84 MATCHES

1. August 17, 2005 (F-Tripoli) LIBYA 0 – 1 NIGERIA. (sub)
2. January 27, 2006 (AFCON-Port Said) ZIMBABWE 0 – 2 NIGERIA. (sub) 1 goal
3. February 4, 2006 (AFCON-Port Said) TUNISIA 1 – 1  NIGERIA* 5-6 pens
4. February 7, 2006 (AFCON-Alexandria) COTE D’IVOIRE 1 – 0 NIGERIA. (sub)
5. September 2, 2006 (AFCONq-Abuja) NIGERIA 2 – 0 NIGER. (sub)
6. February 6, 2007 (F-London) GHANA 4 – 1 NIGERIA.
7. March 24, 2007 (AFCONq-Abeokuta) NIGERIA 1 – 0 UGANDA.
8. September 8, 2007 (AFCONq- Warri) NIGERIA 2 – 0 LESOTHO.
9. October 14, 2007 (F- Mexico City) MEXICO 2 – 2 NIGERIA.
10. January 21, 2008 (AFCON- Sekondi) COTE D’IVOIRE 1 – 0 NIGERIA.
11. January 25, 2008 (AFCON- Sekondi) MALI 0 – 0 NIGERIA.
12. January 29, 2008 (AFCON- Sekondi) BENIN 0 – 2 NIGERIA. (1 goal)
13. February 3, 2008 (AFCON- Accra) GHANA 2 – 1 NIGERIA. (sub)
14. May 27, 2008 (F- Graz) AUSTRIA 1 – 1 NIGERIA.
15. June 1, 2008 (WCq- Abuja) NIGERIA 2 – 0 SOUTH AFRICA.
16. June 7, 2008 (WCq-Freetown) SIERRA LEONE 0 – 1 NIGERIA. (sub)
17. June 21, 2008 (WCq- Abuja) NIGERIA 2 – 0 EQUATORIAL GUINEA. (sub)
18. February 11, 2009 (F-London) JAMAICA 0 – 0 NIGERIA.
19. March 29, 2009 (WCq-Maputo) MOZAMBIQUE 0 -0 NIGERIA.
20. June 20, 2009 (WCq-Rades) TUNISIA 0 -0 NIGERIA
21. September 6, 2009 (WCq-Abuja) NIGERIA 2 – 2  TUNISIA
22. November 14, 2009 (WCq-Nairobi) KENYA 2 – 3 NIGERIA.
23. January 6, 2010 (F- Durban) ZAMBIA 0 – 0 NIGERIA. (sub)
24. January 12, 2010 (AFCON- Benguela) EGYPT 3 – 1 NIGERIA. (sub)
25. January 16, 2010 (AFCON- Benguela) BENIN 0 – 1 NIGERIA.
26. January 20, 2010 (AFCON- Lubango) MOZAMBIQUE 0 – 3 NIGERIA.
27. January 25, 2010 (AFCON- Lubango) ZAMBIA 0 – 0 NIGERIA (aet) 4-5 pens
28. January 28. 2010 (AFCON- Luanda) GHANA 1 – 0 NIGERIA.
29. January 30, 2010 (AFCON- Benguela) ALGERIA 0 – 1 NIGERIA. (sub)
30. September 5, 2010 (AFCONq – Calabar) NIGERIA 2- 0 MADAGASCAR (sub)
31. March 29, 2011 (F- Abuja) NIGERIA 3- 0 KENYA
32. June 1, 2011 ( F- Abuja) NIGERIA 4- 1 ARGENTINA
33. June 5, 2011 (AFCONq- Addis Ababa)  ETHIOPIA 2-2 NIGERIA
34. September 3, 2011 (AFCONq- Antananarivo) MADAGASCAR 0-2 NIGERIA
35. September 6, 2011 ( F- Dhaka) ARGENTINA 3-1 NIGERIA (sub)
36. October 8, 2011 ( AFCONq-Abuja) NIGERIA 2-2 GUINEA
37. October 11, 2011 (F-London) NIGERIA 0-0 GHANA (sub)
38. October 13, 2012 (AFCONq – Calabar) NIGERIA 6-1 LIBERIA (1 goal pen)
39. January 9, 2013 (F – Faro) CAPE VERDE 0-0 NIGERIA
40. January 21, 2013 (AFCON – Nelspruit) BURKINA FASO 1-1 NIGERIA
41. January 25, 2013 (AFCON – Nelspruit) ZAMBIA 1-1 NIGERIA
42. January 29, 2013 (AFCON – Rustenburg) ETHIOPIA 0-2 NIGERIA (sub)
43. February 3, 2013 (AFCON – Rustenburg) COTE D’IVOIRE 1-2 NIGERIA
44. February 6, 2013 (AFCON – Durban) MALI 1-4 NIGERIA
45. February 10, 2013 (AFCON –  J’burg) BURKINA FASO 0-1 NIGERIA
46. March 23, 2013 (WCq- Calabar) NIGERIA 1-1 KENYA
47. June 5, 2013 (WCq – Nairobi) KENYA 0-1 NIGERIA
48. June 12, 2013 (WCq- Windhoek) NAMIBIA 1-1 NIGERIA
49. June 17, 2013 (Confed – Belo Horizonte) TAHITI 1-6 NIGERIA
50. June 20, 2013 (Confed – Salvador) URUGUAY 2-1 NIGERIA (1 goal)
51. June 23, 2013 (Confed – Fortaleza) SPAIN 3-0 NIGERIA
52. September 7, 2013 (WCq – Calabar) NIGERIA 2-0 MALAWI
53. October 13, 2013 (WCq- Addis Ababa) ETHIOPIA 1-2 NIGERIA
54. November 16, 2013 (WCq- Calabar) NIGERIA 2-0 ETHIOPIA
55. November 18, 2013 (F- London) ITALY 2-2 NIGERIA
56. March 6, 2014(F- Georgia) MEXICO 0-0 NIGERIA
57. June 4, 2014 (F- Pennsylvania) GREECE 0-0 NIGERIA
58. June 7, 2014 (F- Florida) USA 2-1 NIGERIA (sub)
59. June 16, 2014 (WC- Curitiba) IRAN 0-0 NIGERIA
60. June 21. 2014 (WC- Cuiaba) BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA 0-1 NIGERIA
61. June 25, 2014 (WC-Porto Alegre) ARGENTINA 3-2 NIGERIA
62. June 30, 2014 (WC- Brasilia) FRANCE 2-0 NIGERIA
63. September 6, 2014 (AFCONq- Calabar) NIGERIA 2-3 CONGO
64. September 10, 2014 (AFCONq- Cape Town) SOUTH AFRICA 0-0 NIGERIA
65. October 11, 2014 (AFCONq – Khartoum) SUDAN 1-0 NIGERIA
66. October 15. 2014 (AFCONq – Abuja) NIGERIA 3-1 SUDAN
67. November 15, 2014 (AFCONq- Pointe Noire) CONGO 0-2 NIGERIA
68. November 19, 2014 (AFCONq- Uyo) NIGERIA 2-2 SOUTH AFRICA
69. October 8, 2015 (F- Vise, Belgium) DR CONGO 2-0 NIGERIA. (sub)
70. October 11, 2015 (F-Vise, Belgium) CAMEROON 0-3 NIGERIA. (sub)
71. November 13, 2015 (WCq- Lobamba) SWAZILAND 0-0 NIGERIA. (sub)
72. March 25, 2016 (AFCONq- Kaduna) NIGERIA 1-1 EGYPT.
73. March 29, 2016 (AFCONq- Alexandria) EGYPT 1-0 NIGERIA.
74. September 3, 2016 (AFCONq -Uyo) NIGERIA 1-0 TANZANIA. (sub)
75. October 9, 2016 (WCq -Ndola) ZAMBIA 1-2 NIGERIA.
76. November 12, 2016 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 3-1 ALGERIA. (sub, 1 goal)
77. September 1, 2017 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 4-0 CAMEROON (sub, 1 goal)
78. September 4, 2017 (WCq -Yaoundé) CAMEROON 1-1 NIGERIA
79. October 7, 2017 (WCq -Uyo) NIGERIA 1-0 ZAMBIA
80. November 14, 2017 (F-Krasnodar) ARGENTINA 2-4 NIGERIA
81. June 2, 2018 (F- London) ENGLAND 2-1 NIGERIA
82. June 6, 2018 (F- Schwechat) Czech REP. 1- 0 NIGERIA
83. June 16, 2018(WC – Kaliningrad) CROATIA 2-0 NIGERIA
84. June 18, 2014 (WC-Volgograd) ICELAND 0-2 NIGERIA