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African men target third Olympic football gold
- Updated: August 2, 2016
John Mikel Obi has 75 caps for the Nigeria senior team
Africa’s men go into the Rio Games looking for a Olympic football gold.
Nigeria won the title at the 1996 games in Atlanta, with Cameroon equalling their feat four years later in Sydney.
African U-23 champions Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa are the three countries representing Africa in men’s football in Brazil.
BBC Sport previews the continent’s chances of conjuring another gold medal performance.
Nigeria:
Etebo Oghenekaro scored five goals to emerge as top scorer as Nigeria conquered the continent at the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal last year to seal a seventh appearance at the Olympics.
Our job is to show why we are the African champions and one of the favourites to win a medal in Rio
Samson SiasiaNigeria coach
Experienced Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi will lead his country’s charge for success in Brazil, two years after playing all four games as the Super Eagles reached the 2014 World Cup second round in South America.
The 29-year-old Nigeria captain is one of the squad’s permitted quota of three players over the age limit of 23.
With many clubs not releasing players, goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi who plays in South Africa, is the only other over-aged player on the Nigeria list for the Games.
Watford’s Odion Ighalo, Kelechi Iheanacho of Manchester City and Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi miss out having not been released by their clubs.
Established senior internationals William Troost-Ekong, Kingsley Madu, Abdullahi Sheu and Umar Aminu are in the final squad.
However, the team has endured adversities to reach Rio after battling with unpaid allowances and lack of football kits.
Coach Samson Siasia has been working without salary since January, alongside his assistants, but insists he is focusing on the challenges on the pitch and not off it.
“I have absolutely no control over our financial situation and those problems,” Siasia told BBC Sport.
“Our immediate focus is on the football. We have sacrificed a lot of things to get here and we can’t move forward if we keep looking back at what we’ve lost.
“We have three teams in our group highly …
continue reading in source www.bbc.co.uk
