The Nigerian Under-23 team, which has been formally dubbed Dream Team V, will take on their Guinean counterpart on Saturday 26 March 2011 in a crucial Olympic Games qualifier scheduled for the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City, Nigeria. The team has been in camp for over a week preparing under coach Austin Eguaveon.
An important fact about this match is that the winner will have the opportunity to represent Africa in the football event of the 2012 Olympic Games.
The Nigerian team
The Nigerian squad is made up of a mix of foreign and local players with vast experience at club level. A unique incident in which the senior national team coach clashed with the Olympic team coach was averted, when three players who had previously been invited for Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations match with Ethiopia were finally recruited to the Olympic squad . The players in question were:
- Ehiosun Ekigho (Warri Wolves FC, Nigeria)
- Nnamdi Oduamadi (AC Milan, Italy)
- Obiorah Nwankwo (Inter Milan, Italy)
The Nigerian Olympic team got a big boost when all 15 invited professional players turned up at their camp in Benin. Invited professionals include Lukman Haruna of France’s Monaco FC, Terna Suswarn of Portugal’s Victoria Setubal and striker Odion Ighalo, who captained the U-20 national team at the 1999 FIFA Youth World Cup in Egypt.
Equatorial Guinea national team
Not much is known about this team as they don’t have an established star in their fold. This unknown factor has been a serious source of concern for the coaching staff of the Nigerian Olympic team.
Facts and Figures
- Equatorial Guinea has never qualified for the Olympic soccer event in the history of the Games
- Nigeria has a strong pedigree in Olympic soccer events, having qualified for Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Beijing 2008.
- The Nigerian Olympic team won gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
- Both teams have never faced each other at this level of football
match officials
The cracker of the African/Olympic Games between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea will be in charge of the following people:
- Alex Asante (Ghana) – Party Commissioner
- Ibrahim Chaibou – Center Referee
- Abdoulaye Mamane – Assistant Referee 1
- Mani Abdou Salam – Assistant Referee 2
- Ibrahim Mamane – Fourth official
predictions
The statistics favor the Nigerian team with the added advantage of playing at home and having the complement of experience and quality players. It will be the biggest surprise in football history if Equatorial Guinea wins the match. However, a tie cannot be ruled out. The start time is set at 4:00 pm Nigerian time.
