Chelsea's Obi Mikel pulls out

Nigeria suffered a blow just under a week away from the start of the World Cup as they announced that midfielder John Obi Mikel had been left out of the squad because he did not want to aggravate a knee injury. The 23-year-old Chelsea star - who...

Nigeria suffered a blow just under a week away from the start of the World Cup as they announced that midfielder John Obi Mikel had been left out of the squad because he did not want to aggravate a knee injury.

The 23-year-old Chelsea star - who follows club team-mates Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and possibly Didier Drogba in missing out on the finals because of injury - is likely to be replaced by one of the seven players dropped from the squad at their training camp in England last Monday.

Nigeria have been drawn in Group B along with Argentina, Greece and South Korea.

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