I was always afraid of playing against Drogba – Mikel Obi

Retired Super Eagles star, John Mikel Obi, has revealed he was always scared to play against Ivory Coast legend, Didier Drogba.

Mikel Obi and Drogba were teammates at Chelsea and won many titles together. But the duo faced each other a few times when their countries met at international tournaments.

In a video shared on CAF’s social media page, the ex-Nigeria international said he was scared of Drogba because the striker is a great goal scorer.

“Obviously, the player I never wanted to meet, that I was lucky I didn’t meet quite a lot, was Didier Drogba. You know, I was always scared of meeting him. Because I knew at some point in the game he would score,” Mikel said.

In other sports news…

Al-Nassr forward, Cristiano Ronaldo recently said his rivalry with Lionel Messi “is gone” having both already “changed the history of football.”

The two footballers have won a combined 79 trophies and are the only two players to have scored over 800 goals each.

Ronaldo said their respective supporters no longer have to harbour hate towards the other as they’ve left an indelible mark in football.

“I don’t see things like that, the rivalry is gone. It was good, the spectators liked it. Those who like Cristiano Ronaldo don’t have to hate Messi and vice versa.

“We’ve done well, we have changed the history of football. We are respected all over the world, that’s the most important thing,” he said.

Ronaldo left European football for Saudi Arabia in January this year, after his contract at Manchester United was terminated.

Messi, who won the 2022 World Cup, joined Inter Miami CF in June as a free agent after two seasons at Paris Saint-Germain.