Chelsea Celebrate Mikel’s Rio 2016 Bronze Medal

English Premier League club Chelsea have celebrated with their midfielder, Mikel Obi, who captained Nigeria U-23s to win bronze in the men’s football event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Complete Sports Nigeria.

Mikel was instrumental in Nigeria’s nail-biting 3-2 win against Honduras in Saturday’s bronze medal match in Belo Horizonte, having a hand in all his side’s three goals.

Mikel also scored a goal for Nigeria in their 2-0 quarter-final win against Denmark.

“John Mikel Obi captained Nigeria to their first medal of the Rio Olympics as his side saw off Honduras 3-2 in an enjoyable bronze medal match on Saturday,” Chelsea’s official website wrote.

The Chelsea midfielder crowned a productive tournament on and off the pitch with his most commanding performance, shielding the Nigerian defence and guiding their attack to help the African Under-23 champions smother Honduras at each end of the Mineirao Stadium.

Mikel played a key role for his country in all three of their goals, which arrived in a 15-minute burst either side of the interval. He vindicated his offensive position after a chance-filled opening half-hour, finding Sadiq Umar at the far post for the young Roma striker to lash in his fourth goal of the competition.

The skipper attempted to score a goal of his own with a well-executed volley shortly after half-time. It was saved but Aminu Umar was on hand to poke home the rebound and double the Dream Team’s advantage. It was also Mikel who carved open the Honduras defence to set up Sadiq Umar whose goal was to clinch the bronze.

Both teams defied the typecast of a third-place game, showing enviable desire as Nigeria sought to reach the podium alongside Brazil and Germany for the first time since their silver at Beijing 2008, while their Honduran rivals fought for their first ever Olympic medal.

As with the Nigerians, the Central American side frequently came close in the early exchanges and suffered for their wayward finishing. However, their lightning wingers posed a growing threat as the game wore on, managing to salvage two late goals.

But Mikel made his Champions League-winning experience count in the dying minutes to keep the defence fully-focused, while the dynamic Umars took Nigeria to 11 goals at these Games and showed why they were one of the most exciting teams taking part in Brazil.