Afcon 2023: Optimist Mikel restates Eagles will win, backs Osimhen to be tournament MVP

Former Super Eagles captain John Mikel Obi must be an incurable optimist.

Despite the Super Eagles, sloppy preparation for Afcon and the team being depleted by injuries the Chelsea legend again predicted that Nigeria will win the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Afcon.

He also tipped Napoli striker Victor Osimhen to finish as the tournament’s best player.

“Nigeria will win the 2023 Afcon and Osimhen will win player of the tournament,” Mikel said in an interview with CNN World Sport.

“He [Victor Osimhen] is on fire. For me, he looks a little bit like Didier Drogba; he scores goals, he holds up play—a strong, young, and energetic striker.

“When it comes to the striking department, I think right now we are blessed. We are blessed with a lot of players there. [Taiwo] Awoniyi is doing well for Nottingham Forest and also for the national team. We also have Victor Boniface of Bayer Leverkusen, who is doing well. So we are quite blessed when it comes to striking force. But we just have to fix some little issues with the defence and goalkeeping. I think if we can be able to do that, we’ve got a very good chance.”

The Super Eagles are drawn in Group A alongside the hosts, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, and Equatorial Guinea.

Nigeria will begin their campaign on January 15 with their first group match against Equatorial Guinea.