Road to Recovery

Breaking down the injury situation for the Argentina-Nigeria match on June 12 in Johannesburg.

Argentina

Coach Diego Maradona has no injury concerns.

Nigeria

Influential midfielder John Obi Mikel was ruled out of the World Cup with a knee injury in early June.

Like Ghana's loss of captain and midfield general Michael Essien, the absence of Mikel is a crushing blow for Nigeria, both on and off the field.

Mikel's size (six-feet-two-inches) and ball handling abilities have made him a top-tier defensive midfielder, reminiscent of former Chelsea teammate Claude Makelele.

But he also boosts the attack with his solid distribution skills and on-field vision: he set up one goal and scored another in Nigeria's 2-0 win over Zimbabwe at the 2006 African Cup of Nations.

An automatic starter for Nigeria, Mikel will have to watch from the sidelines, which means the Super Eagles will now have to find someone to take his place.

None of Nigeria's bench midfielders, including Ideye Brown (the player drafted in to take Mikel's spot on the team) come close to matching the Chelsea star's quality, drive and commitment on the field.