Olympics: Egypt, Mali can’t stop Nigeria, says Disu

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With just days to the start of the CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations, former Nigeria internationals, Tajudeen Disu and Christian Nwokocha, have backed Nigeria to progress from the group stages ahead of Mali and Egypt.

Nigeria coach, Samson Siasia, on Monday released the final list of players for the tournament in Senegal, which will start on November 28. The U-23 Eagles are grouped along with Algeria, Mali and Egypt. The top three teams at the competition will represent Africa in the football event of the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
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Egypt announced their readiness for the tournament with a 2-1 victory over the Cameroon U-23 team on Wednesday while the Malians on Tuesday named a final list of players which has five players from European clubs, two from CAF Champions League finalist TP Mazembe and two from the Tunisian league.

The Nigerian U-23 will begin their quest for the Olympic ticket against Mali on Sunday and former Eagles player, Disu, told our correspondent that the other three teams are no match for Nigeria.

He said, “Although in a game of football, anything can happen, I have a strong trust in Siasia to field a strong team when the tournament begins. The squad he named is made up of experienced and young players, so the group will not be too difficult for them.

“The young boy from the U-17 competition (Victor Osimhen) will also do well there and it will go along to build him for the future.”

For Nwokocha, the Egyptians and Malians would be tough but Nigeria will edge them to top the group.

He said, “Nigeria U-23 Eagles have done well in recent outings — the bronze medal at the 2015 All Africa Games. The coach too has brought in new players to cushion the lapses he noticed in the last competition. That will help them overcome the Egyptians and the other opponents in the group.”

Egypt coach, Hossam El-Badry is confident of his team ahead of the tournament, saying they are not afraid of Nigeria.

The former Al Ahly coach told Algerian media, El Shorouk, that his target is a top three finish.

“I have a target and it is to qualify for the Olympics, no matter what the names of the opponents are. Qualifying for the U-23 AFCON means that your team is among the best eight teams on the continent, thus there is no room for an easy game.

“Algeria and Nigeria are continental heavyweights but I think our game against Mali will be very tough. Mali has won the Africa youth championship and they have very good players on their squad. Our game against them will be very tough. But we don’t fear any opponent as we look to win all our games in the continental tournament to reach the Olympics.”

Source: Punch