The Times reports (in a story that we are very surprised that the Daily Mail hasn’t picked up and ran with) that John Obi Mikel reckons that he could have been blinded in a collision with Ghana’s Anthony Annan at the Africa Cup Of Nations. Mikel said that after Annan poked him in the eye:

“I couldn’t see when I went back on the pitch and I had to go off.”

“When the ball was coming, I couldn’t see it properly. I didn’t swap shirts with Michael Essien [his Chelsea teammate] after the game because of the eye injury.

“It was hurting too much to worry about swapping shirts. It’s a bit better but it is still a bit painful. At the time it really hurt. I thought I’d lost my eyesight when I was lying on the floor but thankfully everything is fine.”

Real injury or swiftly made up excuse for not swapping his shirt with his Chelsea team mate Essien?

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