NIigeria captain Jon Obi Mikel told ‘ESPN’ that he played against Argentina just hours after finding out about the kidnap of his father. Fortunately, his father has been released since.
Obi Mikel revealed the situation to ‘ESPN’ a few days after Nigeria had been eliminated by Argentina at the World Cup in Russia. On the day in question, the Nigerian captain had found out that his father had been kidnapped.
“I didn’t know what to do, but I couldn’t let down 180 million Nigerians. I had to keep it quiet and represent my country. I didn’t want it to affect the group because it was a really important match for us” he explained.
The kidnappers, who abducted his father while he was on the way to a funeral, demanded a ransom of around €24,000 from Obi Mikel and demanded he not tell anyone or they would kill his father.
Fortunately, the kidnappers ended up fleeing, leaving the player’s father in a forest after beating him. The crisis ended happily for Obi Mikel, who had just experienced the most difficult hours of his life.