Nigerians have expressed their disappointment at John Terry and John Obi Mikel missing out on Joseph Yobo Testimonial staged in Port Harcourt on Friday.
The Chelsea
stars were confirmed to participate in the highly publicized game to
give the former Super Eagles’ captain a grand curtain call from
professional football, but that was not to be as fans left the Adokiye
Amiesimaka Stadium unhappy as most because of the duo.
Mikel
had been excused by the Nigeria Football Federation from the
international friendly matches against Mali and Luxembourg in order to
participate in the game to honour the former Eagles’ skipper.
And
for Terry, he was a sure bet to grace the occasion because of his
non-involvement in England’s squad for Uefa Euro 2016 billed for France
next month, and because the organisers had confirmed his participation
few days to the game.
Even few
hours to kick-off news filtered around that the duo were in town and on
team list for the game, they were named among the
substitutes. Surprisingly, the duo did not turn up and no reason was
given for their absence.
“This
would have been the greatest day of my life if had seen John Terry
physically in Nigeria. I’m a strong admirer of the Chelsea skipper and I
feel sad not seeing him play this game,” a fan told Goal.
Another
said: “I travelled from Accra [Ghana] to Nigeria with my friends to
watch my Chelsea idols [Mikel and Terry]. So annoyed they are not here
because the organisers have assured on their participation. Had I known,
would have watched the game on my television at home.”
However,
in the English Premier League stars' absence, Austin Okocha, Samuel
Eto’o Fills and Sammy Appiah entertained spectators with blistering
skills in the nine-goal thriller.
Eto’o
was involved in a funny scene when he asked Okocha to be substituted
due to the midfielder’s stunning skills which continuously prised open
his side.
The first half ended 4-3 with Yobo scoring just before the break to keep the scores close.
The first half ended 4-3 with Yobo scoring just before the break to keep the scores close.
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