May 14, 2026

Mikel Obi: “My Wife’s Family Will Kill Me Ff Nigeria Fails To Qualify For World Cup”

By Gbolahan Adeyemi

Super Eagles captain, John Obi Mikel has extra motivation to ensure that the super eagles qualify for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The former Chelsea midfielder revealed that his Russian wife Olga Diyachenko, and her Family and friends were rooting for Nigeria to Qualify for the tournament.

Speaking to FIFA. COM, he said:

“My wife is Russian and many of our relatives and friends are from Russia. They are all expecting Nigeria to qualify for the next World Cup. I think they will kill me if I fail them,” he added, laughing.

“We are in a very good position in our group. We have two wins from two games, and in our last game we beat Algeria at home. We have a very good young team and the players play good football. If we can win our next match (at home to Cameroon on 31 August) it will edge us closer to qualification. I think we can go through.”

“As everyone knows, they are a very good team. They are strong and they play with confidence. We must get ourselves well prepared for this game and try our best to get on top against them. It won’t be easy but these are important matches. If we win both, we will be almost there.”

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