I have no problem with Mikel, says Keshi

SUPER Eagles' boss, Stephen Keshi, has reacted swiftly to the call by former national team skipper, Austin Jay Jay Okocha, that Chelsea's John Obi Mikel should be recalled to the national team, insisting that there was never a time the player was out of the national team.'We may have played some games without Mikel but he has always been part of the team and I must tell Nigerians that I have been in touch with the player,' Keshi said in Benin City.'On the day of the Nations Cup draws in South Africa, Mikel and myself spoke for over 40 minutes on various aspects of football and I was impressed with his patriotism for Nigeria and the success of the national team. We must be careful not to bring division and hero worship into the national team.'Mikel has said again and again that he has no problem with the national team's technical crew and I don't have any problem with him either, so calling for his recall to the team is unnecessary, because he has always been a part of the team.'The Eagles' boss warned that such calls would mean that the other Europe-based professionals, who were not invited for the June games against Namibia, Malawi and Rwanda, were not important to the national team, which is far from the truth.'We have a lot of players who were not part of the last games like Obafemi Martins, Obinna Nsofor, Ogbuke Obasi, Emmanuel Emenike and more,' he explained. 'These players are as important and very good to our ambition of building a strong national team for Nigeria and I have been in touch with all of them, so we must avoid division in the national team and respect the decision of the coach.'Keshi concluded that no matter the amount of pressure, he would invite only the players needed for particular games and should Mikel be relevant, he would surely be called up.
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