Rohr reveals the reason for the continued absence of John Obi Mikel from Nigeria

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr revealed that John Obi Mikel's knee was not a problem.

Since the Super Eagles' outing to the 2018 World Cup group stage last summer, team captain, Mikel, has still not received a call. Therefore, in the absence of the match against Seychelles on Friday, he will have missed all qualifying for 2019. Series of qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations – after his defeat against the defeat against the United States. South Africa to Uyo in 2017.

The midfielder's stock has increased since he moved from Tianjin Teda in the Chinese Super League to his English championship team Middlesbrough, claiming a Premier League spot.

And because of this form, his exclusion of the group of 23 men to face the Pirates and the friendly against Egypt has raised a lot of eyebrows.

But Rohr decided to defend his action, saying that the 31-year-old was not fit enough to combine the tasks of the club and the national team, leaving "the door open" for the return of his captain.

"Obi Mikel is playing well in Middlesbrough and he's fine now, but his knee still has a small problem and it's not time for him to get back into the team in these conditions," said Rohr conference of match.

"He has so many games to play for Middlesbrough. They are fighting for a spot in the promotional playoffs. And he told me it was not the right time to come back. But if Obi Mikel is very fit and motivated, if he shows he's better than the other people we have, the door is open. "

In addition, Rohr ruled out compatriot Joachim Low, who absolved three senior members of the German national team from office, forcing them to retire.

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The victims, Bayern Munich trio, Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, were sentenced to a new cause after the disastrous defeat of the World Cup and the Uefa League of Nations.

"I'm not like Joachim Low who announced that three players were not part of the German national team because you never know what could happen. There could be injury or loss of shape, "he added.

"We are watching what is going on and we hope that it will come back someday as we need some experience. We now have more young players than the last list. "