Mikel Obi whose full name is John Michael Nchekwube Obinna was born on April 22, 1987 in Jos, Nigeria. He hails from Anambra in Southeastern Nigeria from Igbo tribe precisely, the meaning of his names are; “Nchekwube” means “hope” and “Obi” is a nickname for the Igbo name “Obinna” (meaning “Father’s heart”). He started his career officially at the age of 12 in Pepsi Football Academy and later on he moved to Plateau United club.
He came to limelight after representing Nigerian under-17 team at the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Championships which was held in Finland. The Nigerian Football Association (NFA) mistakenly submitted “Michael” as “Mikel” for the tournament in Finland, but he decided to keep the new name, saying that it had a “special ring to it.” Later in 2005, Mikel played for Nigeria at the FIFA World Youth Championships held in the Netherlands which he did marvelously well and won the Silver Ball after being voted the tournament’s second-best player. But unfortunately for the team they lost to Argentina in finals 2-1.
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In the same 2005, there were links with his move to Manchester United club and Chelsea and this brought much controversy, but finally he was signed by Chelsea. Obi played for Chelsea from 2006 to 2017 and won many titles before finally moving to a Chinese club Tianjin TEDA. He still plays for Nigerian National team.
Honours
Chelsea
Premier League: 2009–10, 2014–15
FA Cup: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12
League Cup: 2006–07, 2014-15
FA Community Shield: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2011–12
UEFA Europa League: 2012–13
Nigeria
Africa Cup of Nations: 2013
2016 Summer Olympics : Bronze Medal
Individual
FIFA World Youth Championship Silver Ball: 2005
African Young Player of the Year: 2005, 2006
Chelsea Young Player of the Year: 2007,2008
