The Chelsea curse has struck again, with Mikel John Obi becoming the latest Blues player to be ruled out of the World Cup due to injury. The Nigeria midfielder has been struggling to shake off a knee problem after undergoing surgery in recent weeks, though there are also reports that an ankle injury is to blame for Mikel's withdrawal.
The uncapped Sochaux player Brown Ideye, who was one of the seven trimmed from the coach Lars Lagerback's original 30, has been called up to the squad in his place.
The media officer, Idah Peterside, said Mikel had sustained a fresh ankle injury after the team co-ordinator, Emmanuel Attah, had initially claimed the 23-year-old had told his national team coaches that he did not want to risk his knee after failing to fully recover from surgery.
"Mikel suffered a bruise to his ankle and a scan showed that he will not recover on time," Peterside said. "The coach has now decided to call up Brown Ideye to replace him."
That contradicted Attah's earlier statement. Attah said: "We have dropped Mikel from the World Cup after he told the team he did not want to put his career at risk as his knee injury has yet to fully heal after a recent surgery."
Mikel had been closely monitored since joining his team-mates at their pre-tournament training camp on the outskirts of London a week ago, with Lagerback, repeatedly giving reassurances over his fitness. He was rested for a friendly against Colombia over the weekend and the Swede explained "there was nothing wrong, but it was just a precaution".
Yesterday, the 23-year-old trained fully with the rest of the squad for the first time since they arrived at their World Cup base in Durban. Mikel's injury means he joins Chelsea team-mates Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and José Bosingwa in missing the tournament, with Didier Drogba's participation also in doubt.
The Nigerians complete their preparations for the finals with a friendly against North Korea in Johannesburg tomorrow.
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