Mikel Obi Recounts Confrontation with Lionel Messi Over Golden Ball Award After 2005 U-20 World Cup

Former Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel Obi has shared the conversation he had with Argentina football icon, Lionel Messi after the medal ceremony at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Argentina defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the final of the competition almost 20 years ago but Mikel, who was awarded the Silver Ball Award, says he deserved the Golden Ball Award ahead of Messi who won it.

“When we lost against Argentina in the U-20 World Cup, Messi won the Golden Ball and I won the Silver Ball,” Mikel told The Obi One Podcast that

“At the end of the coronation, I told him, ‘You stole the Golden Ball from me. I deserved it, I was better than you.

“Messi smiled and said to me, ‘I have nothing to do with the matter, the Committee is the one who chooses.’