Nigeria’s quest to return to the Olympic Games football event begins today, at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, where the U-23 Eagles will clash with their Guinean counterparts.
Nigeria’s last participation at the men’s football event was at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 edition, where the U-23 Eagles won the bronze medal. The 1996 gold and 2008 bronze medalists missed the 2020 edition in Japan and hope to return to the fray at the Paris 2024 Games.
In preparation for today’s match, U-23 Eagles’ Head Coach, Salisu Yusuf, invited overseas and home-based players to their Abuja camp and hopes they are well-tuned for the Guineans, who came into the country on Saturday.
“I am satisfied that we have been able to work hard these past days and are now set for action. The players know that reaching the Africa Cup of Nations presents them a tremendous opportunity to fight hard for a ticket to the Olympics, which is a global tournament, “ Salisu told thenff.com.
“We have invited a number of players from overseas that we believe can help us stake a very strong claim to the ticket, and we will be aiming for a good win on Wednesday. The second leg is on neutral ground, but we don’t want to entertain that in our minds. We have the objective of working assiduously to wrap up things in this first leg,” he said.
According to thenff.com, the Guineans had their first feel of the MKO Abiola Stadium turf on Saturday, hours before the Olympic Eagles took to the same pitch for their final workout ahead of the encounter.
Nigeria hopes to record a clear victory today before the return leg of the tie, which will hold at the Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan in Morocco, starting from 7.00 p.m. Morocco time (8.00 p.m. Nigeria time) on March 28.
Today’s match will be supervised by Sudan’s Sabri Mohamed Fadul (center referee), with his compatriots, Abdelgabar Mohamed Abdelgabar and Ahmed Subahi, as first and second assistant referees respectively.
South Sudan’s Ring Akech Malong will work as the fourth official, while Munkaila Nassam Adam from Ghana will be the match commissioner.
The winner after two legs will qualify for Morocco 2023 African U-23 Cup of Nations, which is a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympics, as the four semifinalists in Morocco automatically qualify for the Olympic Games.
