{"id":4993,"date":"2019-02-20T17:41:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T17:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/nigeria\/?p=4993"},"modified":"2019-02-20T17:41:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T17:41:25","slug":"african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;African Zidane&#8217; Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Chelsea legend John Mikel Obi has been named in the current Championship Team of The Week after starring in Middlesbrough&#8217;s 1-0 win over Blackburn\u00a0 Rovers on Sunday.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Nigeria captain has endeared himself to Boro fans who have labelled him the African Zidane on the back of his imperious displays since transferring to the club last month.<\/div>\n<p>The Premier league, Europa and UEFA Champions league winner with Chelsea has played four league games for Tony Pulis&#8217; side who are fifth in the table with 54 points after 32 matches.<\/p>\n<p>Making the cut alongside the Nigerian are Morecambe&#8217;s Mark Halstead, Notts County&#8217;s Sam Stubbs and Ben Barclay, Preston North End&#8217;s Ben Davies, MK Dons&#8217; Jake Hesketh, Luton Town&#8217;s George Moncur, Sheffield United&#8217;s Gary Madine, Southend United&#8217;s Simon Cox and the duo of Teemu Pukki and Emi Buendia, both Norwich City&#8217;s star players.<\/p>\n<p>Mikel Obi touched the ball 63 times and made one key pass, he committed one tackle and cleared the ball twice according to information provided by Whoscored.com.<\/p>\n<p>The Eagles skipper is expected to play in the Riverside team&#8217;s weekend clash against Queens Park Rangers featuring Ebere Eze and Bright Osayi-Samuel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chelsea legend John Mikel Obi has been named in the current Championship Team of The Week after starring in Middlesbrough&#8217;s 1-0 win over Blackburn\u00a0 Rovers on Sunday. The Nigeria captain has endeared himself to Boro fans who have labelled him the African Zidane on the back of his imperious displays since transferring to the club [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":5017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[116,122,348],"class_list":["post-4993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-tournament"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&#039;African Zidane&#039; Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;African Zidane&#039; Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chelsea legend John Mikel Obi has been named in the current Championship Team of The Week after starring in Middlesbrough&#8217;s 1-0 win over Blackburn\u00a0 Rovers on Sunday. The Nigeria captain has endeared himself to Boro fans who have labelled him the African Zidane on the back of his imperious displays since transferring to the club [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-20T17:41:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"265\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"184\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"alico\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;African Zidane&#8217; Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-20T17:41:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week\"},\"wordCount\":208,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Football\",\"Sports\",\"Tournament\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week\",\"name\":\"'African Zidane' Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-20T17:41:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png\",\"width\":265,\"height\":184},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8216;African Zidane&#8217; Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\",\"name\":\"alico\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/alico\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'African Zidane' Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week - Nigeria","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'African Zidane' Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week","og_description":"Chelsea legend John Mikel Obi has been named in the current Championship Team of The Week after starring in Middlesbrough&#8217;s 1-0 win over Blackburn\u00a0 Rovers on Sunday. The Nigeria captain has endeared himself to Boro fans who have labelled him the African Zidane on the back of his imperious displays since transferring to the club [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2019-02-20T17:41:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":265,"height":184,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"alico","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"alico","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week"},"author":{"name":"alico","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7"},"headline":"&#8216;African Zidane&#8217; Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week","datePublished":"2019-02-20T17:41:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week"},"wordCount":208,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png","keywords":["Football","Sports","Tournament"],"articleSection":["all news","Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week","name":"'African Zidane' Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png","datePublished":"2019-02-20T17:41:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/upload\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/99040Mikel.png","width":265,"height":184},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/african-zidane-mikel-named-in-championship-team-of-the-week#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"&#8216;African Zidane&#8217; Mikel Named In Championship Team of The Week"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7","name":"alico","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/alico"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}