Mikel Reflects On His Father's Kidnapping After Diaz Story

Chelsea & Nigeria legend John Obi Mikel got candid with UK media over how he relates to Luis Diaz, after the Colombian's parents were kidnapped.

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What's the story? 

John Obi Mikel can eerily relate to Luis Diaz's recent horror of his parents being kidnapped in his home country of Colombia while he was in Liverpool.

Mikel revealed to a British media outlet that his father was also kidnapped while he was representing the Super Eagles during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

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Let's take a closer look...

Mikel relates to Diaz horror

It's undoubtedly been a difficult period for Liverpool and Colombia winger Luis Diaz, whose parents were kidnapped in his home country by guerilla group (National Liberation Army) in his home town of Barrancas.

According to apnews.com, Both of Díaz's parents had been kidnapped by armed men on motorcycles at a gas station in Barrancas, with the Liverpool star's mother, rescued within hours by police who set up roadblocks around the Barrancas, which is near Colombia’s border with Venezuela.

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Diaz's father was released Thursday by members of the National Liberation Army and the baller Diaz pleaded for his father's freedom after scoring for Liverpool in a English Premier League encounter against Luton Town, revealing a T-shirt that read "Freedom for Papa" in Spanish.

With the nightmare 12-day ordeal finally coming to an end of the Diaz family, John Obi Mikel revealed to talkSPORT that he experienced a similar situation when his father was kidnapped in Nigeria. 

"My dad got kidnapped while I was playing for Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. We were about to play against Argentina. Two hours before the game I got a phone call from my brother saying my dad got kidnapped," revealed Mikel, mentioning that it was the second time he'd experienced this with his father.

"The first time he was kidnapped was shocking, but the second time was even more shocking because I was about to go into one of the biggest games of my life. I couldn't leave the room. I couldn't tell anybody. I was alone in the room for about 30 minutes, thinking what am I going to do?

"But we're about to go into the biggest game of our lives. We're about to play against Lionel Messi and Argentina," recalls Mikel, whose grateful for former Chelsea Roman Abramovich's support during the situation.

"Chelsea were very supportive. I remember Roman Abramovich saying 'do you want me to send people over? Because I know if I send people over, I can get your dad out' — I was like, how are you going to do this?' He said 'don't worry about that. Just let me know if you want that option, I can do it,'" revealed Mikel. 

Watch below:

Here's how Mikel reacted to the news that Diaz's father had been returned safely:

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