Prior to the appointment of the German two years ago, Nigeria had lost much of their fear factor after failing to qualify for the 2015 and 2017 AFCON tournaments while struggling to create a better team for international assignments.
Mikel has described the 64-year old's influence on the team as "radical change" since his installation, having overseen the team in qualification for their sixth World Cup appearance and also trying to imbue the importance of team work in such a young squad.
"The coach and myself, as captain, have tried to make these young players realise that we are a team, not individuals," Mikel stated in an interview with the Guardian UK
"If you don't want to play together, you are welcome to leave. It's amazing now to go to camp. You can feel the good feelings.
"I have been in the national team since 2005 and I haven't seen this discipline before. It is meetings, being on time, the training.
''Sometimes a player has the hump because he knows he is not going to make the team and, before in the national team, he just strolls around.
''Now, you have to train properly. If you don't, you are leaving the camp. The coach has changed the whole mentality."
It is a forgone conclusion that the 31-year old will be leading out the Super Eagles in Russia next month for his second World Cup outing and only missed out of the 2010 edition due to injury.
Emmanuel Chinaza
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