Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel claims France’s Olivier Giroud elbowed him during Nigeria clash
John Obi Mikel has claimed France and Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud elbowed him during Nigeria’s 2-0 defeat to Les Bleus, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The Chelsea midfielder was surprised that the referee saw the incident on the 29th minute but refused to book the French striker, electing to only give him a warning.
Although Mikel thought there was intent from Giroud with the elbow, he stressed that were was no ill-feeling towards the 27-year-old, attributing the foul to a “heat of the moment” mistake.
“Yes I got an elbow and the referee saw it and he only gave him a warning, not even a yellow card, nothing. It was bad. We know the game – if you see it, act on it.
“The ref saw it. He did catch me, I don’t know if it was too hard but the intention was definitely there. I don’t think he is a dirty player. Everyone wants to win for his country. He hasn’t done those sort of things before so maybe it was just one of those things in the heat of the moment”
The Super Eagles were also angry at a catalogue of tackles aimed towards Ogenyi Onazi, leading to the midfielder being substituted shorty before the hour mark.
Mikel suggested that Onazi might’ve broken his ankle as a result but, again, said there was no malice in his opponents’ challenges.
“I thought the referee didn’t help us. There were some heavy challenges and I think Ogenyi Onazi has broken his ankle. Challenges like this are bad but it was a 50-50, he just miscaculated, he is not a dirty player.”
Giroud could yet face a retrospective ban from FIFA that would prevent him from playing in France’s quarter-final clash on Friday.