Nigeria will face Guinea in 2024 Paris Olympic qualifiers 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.
The U-23 Eagles earned the bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 edition of the men’s football competition, which was Nigeria’s last appearance there. The 1996 gold and 2008 bronze medalists missed the 2020 edition in Japan and plan to compete again in Paris in 2024.
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Salisu Yusuf, the head coach of the U-23 Eagles, has invited both domestic and international players to their Abuja training camp in order to get them ready for the Guineans, who arrived in the nation 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 taste of the MKO Abiola Stadium turf on Saturday, only hours before the Olympic Eagles took to the same pitch for their final warm-up before the game.
Nigeria wants to win the match tonight before the return leg on March 28 at the Complexe Sportif Prince Heritier Moulay Al Hassan in Morocco, which begins at 7 p.m. Morocco time (8 p.m. Nigeria time).
Today’s match will be supervised by Sudan’s Sabri Mohamed Fadul (centre 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 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 Paris 2024 Olympics, as the four semifinalists in Morocco automatically qualify for the Olympic Games