Just as the saying, “better is the end of a thing than the beginning,” any emotional football lover would have no other thought than to shed some tears looking at both John Obi Mikel and Lionel Messi, from 10 years ago.

One makes you cry for his brilliance, the other for sheer mediocrity. Are you willing to guess which is which?

The Holland U-20 World cup in 2005 introduced both players to the world. Mikel with the number 9 jersey ended the tournament with a Silver Shoe, behind the number 10 wearing Messi. As a youth, he was an all-round midfielder – displaying intelligent ball retention, forceful tackling, and a certain guile.

Oh how he could distribute the ball creatively and effectively and most importantly, he played an attacking role from the midfield.

On the other hand, Messi led the Argentina team to the finals, giving them the trophy with two goals against our dear Flying Eagles. Messi was the undisputed star of the tournament – with six goals he won both the Golden Shoe, for top scorer – as well as the Golden Ball for most valuable player at the tournament.

This heralded him as the tournament’s top player; an award won 26 years previously by compatriot Diego Maradona.

Here’s the thing, so many at the tournament actual argued Mikel was a step ahead of Messi. They rated him above the diminutive forward because they assumed he would go on to greater things.

After the Holland tourney, it was all about who would graduate from the raw talent to become a “football genius and great.” The future was too dark for us to see.

Messi, already at Spanish giants, Barcelona, continued his trade in Spain where his development was massive. His talent was nurtured, and his abilities honed at La Masia. After learning the “Barca way” he was unleashed upon the defences of La Liga to torment the league and all of Europe.

The case for Mikel was different as he sought for a fresh challenge, having attracted strong interest from two big premiership clubs, Manchester United and Chelsea FC. He was eventually “hijacked” by Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho leaving Sir Alex Ferguson to lick his wounds after losing the Lynn Oslo midfielder.

READ MORE: http://www.post-nigeria.com/burnt-wings-where-is-mikel-obi/

Coming back home, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF shares a bit of the blame in Mikel’s career woes. The NFF has no impactful plans in protecting young players and monitoring their development to a satisfactory state.

It has failed in the task of building a “young and vibrant” Eagles team. Attention has been drawn away from football at the grassroots; our football academies have not been developed. There is paltry interest with little or no monitoring from the NFF.

How much can this help the game and players?

One will end up having sleepless nights thinking about the current crop of U-20 players and the kind of future that lies ahead of them. It will be unfair to let the end of these raw talents have the opposite of their beginnings.

Recent media reports now link Mikel to UAE side Al-Ain where the game is not in the limelight. Will Mikel end in the UAE to enjoy the oil money or will he regain his consciousness of who he really is? Is it too late to save him?

What could have been gnaws at us all as we wonder where Mikel is.

READ MORE FROM: http://www.post-nigeria.com/burnt-wings-where-is-mikel-obi/

@op I need a comprehensive list of ur achievements first

Op, thanks for sharing..
It was insightful..