Former Suoer Eagles captain and Chelsea player, John Obi Mikel is the latest person to join his voice to the criticism that Jammie Carragher has recieved since the comments he made about the Africa Cup of Nations ( AFCON).
The Nigerian expressed his displeasure on his podcast ( Obionepodcast) about the comments that was made by Jammie Carragher who downplayed the value of AFCON in context to Mohamed Salah. The English international stated that Mohamed Salah was at a disadvantage of winning the Ballon d’Or despite his impressive form this season because Egypt do not play in top competitions.
What did Jammie Carragher say about AFCON?
He said the problem is Mohamed Salah does not have a fair chance at winning the Ballon d’Or as compared to players that play in top competition.
“I think the problem is the fact he (Salah) is with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe got a great chance of winning, I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament. Mormally, the player who excels in that, like Vini Jr and (Kylian) Mbappe right now, Real Madrid looking really good going for the Champions League. Liverpool will be in that conversation, but right now (Los Blancos) are certainly the front runner.”
What did John Mikel Obi say to Carragher?
Mikel Obi did not waste time to blast Carragher stating that the former Liverpool player did not win anything while he was with England so he had no business bringing down AFCON.
“It’s so disrespectful what he said, and this is coming from someone who never won any major international competition with England. His statement was absolutely wrong. I hope he will come out and make a massive apology because he owes people around the world an apology. [It was] ignorant to disrespect such a wonderful tournament.”
He continued,
“The smirk on his face, the arrogant f***ing smirk on his face to dismiss… That smirk on his face is absolutely what tipped me off. You have people trying to correct you and you’re coming out and attacking absolutely everyone else and discrediting this wonderful tournament. The guy says so many things on TV, never won the Premier League, analyses teams and tells them you have to win the Premier League. You never won it, you don’t know what it takes to win the f***ing Premier League, you don’t know what it takes to win with your national team. You can’t discredit such a wonderful, wonderful tournament. People in Africa die for the Africa Cup of Nations. I am f***ing angry, I am f***ing angry, he spent so many years playing for Liverpool, he didn’t win the f***ing Premier League. He sits there week in, week out, telling and teaching people trying to tell people how to win the Premier League. You haven’t won it. Africans watch you on the weekend and you sit there, open your mouth and discredit the whole f***ing African continent, saying your African Nations tournament is s***. That is has no value because it’s not the Euros or Copa America. He can f*** off. We know in Africa what we bring to the Premier League. If you won the Euros with England I might understand that, if you won a major tournament with England I might understand that. You won f*** all with England. F*** all. And you try to discredit the tournament that I won, shed blood and tears for?’
Despite the comments by Carragher, Mohamed Salah is still in contention to win the award following his impressive form for Liverpool. Obi won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and finished as runners-up on two occasions.
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