Former Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi, has blasted former Liverpool defender, Jamie Carragher, after he made belittling statements about the stature of the AFCON tournament, Soccernet.ng reports.
The one-time UEFA Champions League winner, speaking on Monday Night football, revealed his fears about Mo Salah not winning the Ballon d’Or due to Egypt’s absence from a major tournament.
Micah Richards, and Daniel Sturridge, in response, told Carragher that the AFCON tournament houses Egypt, and therefore is a major tournament, on par with the Euros and Copa America competitions, but ex-Liverpool man scuffed in disbelief.
Jamie Carragher flippantly disregarding AFCON being a major tournament on Sky Sports tonight. pic.twitter.com/FI2CAFGa5B
— Leo Haider (@leohaider7) February 23, 2025
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Mikel, fuming, hit back at Carragher, claiming the Englishman had no experience of what it means to win something worthwhile for his national team.
“You can’t sit there and talk like that. We talk about inclusion in the society, but how about inclusion in the world? We’re trying to change the perception of people, but it doesn’t help when someone like you who has a massive following, sits there in one of the biggest platforms in the world, and make comments like this.
“I don’t care what he says, I’ve played in it, I’ve won it. It’s not his f**king place to discredit the African Cup of Nations. I am angry. He spent so many years playing for Liverpool and didn’t win the Premier League, and he sits there week in week out, trying to tell people how to win the league.
“Africans tune in to watch. They don’t have money to eat, but they watch the Premier League. They watch you on the weekend, and you sit there to discredit the whole African continent, that it has no value because it’s not the Euros or Copa America, he can f**k off,” the 2013 AFCON winner said on the Obi One Podcast.
“We know what it is to be African, we know what we bring to the Premier League, that have represented Africa boldly. Starting from George Weah, who won the Ballon d’Or by the way.
“You don’t know what it takes to win with your national team, you can’t discredit such a wonderful tournament that people in Africa die for the African Cup of Nations.
“Children, kids, grow up watching their idols, watching and supporting their country because the African Cup of Nations is what inspires them.
“The next generation, the influx of African players coming into the Premier League, coming to Europe to play, it’s all because they grew up watching the African Cup of Nations,” an angry Mikel said.
Mo Salah is a front runner for the World Best Player award this season, as he’s heralded Liverpool to a title charge in the English Premier league, while they’re still gunning for glory in Europe.
The Egyptian winger has scored 30 goals and provided 22 assists in 39 games across all competitions for Arne Slot’s side this term, and has a chance of lifting something tangible with Egypt when the AFCON 2025 tournament kicks off in December.