Nigeria’s dependable defender Leon Balogun has hailed the impact of two of the team’s experienced stars Victor Moses and captain John Mikel Obi in the national team.
The duo alongside Balogun, returned to the Nigerian fold for the first time in ten months when Nigeria’s Super Eagles soared above Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions in September.
While Balogun was at his imperious best in both games against the African champions, Mikel and Moses also played critical roles in the team’s success.
The Mainz 05 centre back however has lovely words concerning the two in this chat to www.aclsports.com
“Each one has his qualities,” began Leon.
“Victor Moses is brilliant when it comes to one-on-one. He is skillful, he is smart. He knows how to assist and knows how to score like we saw in the last game (in Uyo) in a brilliant kind of way.”
“And then we have John Obi Mikel who has great experience and has great composure. He is great with the ball. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any player who controls the ball like him when under pressure from the opponents.”
“It’s amazing. He protects the ball against two, three, sometimes four players and the good thing is he always knows when to play the ball and can even give a deadly pass out of this situation and that’s what makes him special,” analyzed the former Dusseldorf star.
Balogun further underlined their qualities by juxtaposing it with the length of their respective stay at reigning Premier League champions, Chelsea. He also hopes they will help Nigeria to greater things.
“They are two great players. Mikel didn’t play for a club like Chelsea for about ten years for no reason.”
“And same as Victor, he’s been there for five to six years now. He’s always on loan but they always took him back. Finally he’s made the breakthrough and I’m happy for him. It’s the second season and he keeps starting.”
“So they are great players and I just hope we as a team and Nigerian can profit from them for many more years,” he concluded.
Both players (Mikel and Moses) will be hoping to represent Nigeria in their second World Cup appearances as the Eagles face Zambia in Uyo on Saturday. An outright win for Nigeria will seal qualification for the Mundial in Russia next summer.
