By Daily Sports on November 14, 2016

Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi has revealed that he fleetingly thought he was offside just before he scored Nigeria’s second goal in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Algeria in 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying.

Mikel appeared to be offside shortly before he scored though television replays showed an Algerian defender had played him onside at the last moment.

The captain was pleased about the goal which saw the Super Eagles take a 2-0 lead into the break.

“I had just one thing at the back of my mind (when I received the pass from Oghenekaro Etebo) and that was to put the ball in the back of the net.

“I controlled the ball, looked up to see if I was offside but when I saw that the assistant referee did not raise his flag, I decided to carry on.

“I looked at the (Algerian) goalkeeper and he was standing at the left side (of the goal) with the other side wide open so I decided to put the ball there.

“It wasn’t a difficult situation but at the same time, scoring a goal is never easy,” a chuckling Mikel told a packed press conference in Uyo on Saturday.

The win on Saturday means that Nigeria retain top spot in Group B having amassed maximum points from their first two games.

It is a situation that has pleased Mikel who however insists that everyone involved with the team must stay focussed on the task at hand.

“I am very happy with this victory and also happy that we are playing well.

“Like the coach (Gernot Rohr) said, we are responding very well to what he wants us to do.

“(We are playing) aggressive and offensive football.

“We are keeping the ball well because we have a lot of young players who really want to play.

“The movement in the team is also very important. Players like Alex (Iwobi), Kelechi (Iheanacho) and Victor (Moses) all (interchanged positions) very well.

“We have to move around so it is very difficult for other teams to pick us out.

“We have to continue like this and if we do, then I think we have a very good chance of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia,” he said. (supersport.com)

•Photo shows John Obi Mikel

Source Daily Sports

Posted November 14, 2016

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