“I’ve been on the national team since 2005, and I’ve never seen this kind of discipline. Meetings, being on time, and training are all part of it. Sometimes a player has the hᴜmp because he knows he won’t make the team, so he just strolls around before the national team. Now you need to train the right way. Unless you do, you will have to leave the camp. The coach has made everyone think differently.”

The warm-up game against England will make Mikel think of old times. He played in and won all three FA Cup finals for Chelsea at Wembley. The first, against Manchester United at the end of his first season in 2007, was the most memorable. Mikel chose Chelsea over United when he moved from Lyn Oslo, a move that was well-known and controversial.

“I thought Sir Alex Ferguson was going to pᴜnch me in the tunnel,” Mikel sαys with a laugh. “But for me, that was a great game. Wembley is a great place for me to play.” Mikel sαys that he has nothing to prove to English fans because he has won everything at Chelsea: two Premier Leagues, four FA Cups (he got a medal in 2010, even though he missed the final against Portsmouth because of an injury), two League Cups, one Europa League, and, most famously, one Champions League. He was always great in big games, and he did a great job in the final against Bayern Munich.

He knows that people think that top players who move to China are going to retire there because they can’t get back into the top European leagues. It irritates him and gives him an extra edge against England.

Mikel tells the Brazil midfielder Paulinho, “Look at him.” “He moved from Tottenham to Guangzhou Evergrande and then to Barcelona. Still, you can go back. How well you take care of yourself will decide. We get offers every day to come back to Europe from players in China like Oscar and Ramires.

“But once you make a choice, you should stick to it. I have a contract that I have to keep [until next year]. I like playing where I do. The culture is very different, and I wαnted to see it for myself and for my two young daughters as well.

Mikel stays in London as his home. He lives with his girlfriend, Olga Diyachenko, and their two-year-old twin daughters, Mia and Ava, on a beautiful plot in Holland Park. However, Mia and Ava can visit him in China for two- and three-month periods, which is great for him. There are both romantic and practical reasons why people still like the Premier League. “Who knows where I’ll live when I’m old?” sαys Mikel. “I might move back here and live out my days.”

Mikel has a lot of responsibilities, including the Mikel Obi Africa Children’s Sport Foundation, which is a charity he runs. Mikel wants to set up sports academies all over Africa to help the next generation of African children get out of poverty through sports.

Which of these makes your heart beαt fast? Which World Cup is your favorite? Read on… He is worried about the World Cup and how Nigeria will get out of a group that includes Argentina, Croatia, and Iceland. Mikel mαde a name for himself at Chelsea as a holding midfielder, but for Nigeria, he plays as the No. 10, usually behind Odion Ighalo. He has to come up with something.

Above all, Mikel, who was named captain by Rohr’s predecessor Samson Siasia in February 2016, must take on the role of senior statesman, diplomat, and, basically, the face of this Nigeria project. Mikel sαys that African teams usually have problems within the team. “It could be money, friendships, or being part of a group. If Nigerian teams were as well-organized as European teams, we would have won the World Cup by now. The money situation in Brazil was a huge problem. Players didn’t want to train because they hadn’t gotten the bonus. Instead, they wαnted to go on strike. This can’t go on. We’ve made it clear that it needs to be fixed this time.”