Argentina, Germany, others await Siasia’s boys in Rio

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After scaling the hurdle of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics, Nigeria’s U-23 team now face giants from South America and Europe as they chase gold in Rio, ALLWELL OKPI reports

The way coach Samson Siasia and his team jubilated after beating hosts Senegal 1-0 in the semi-finals of the U-23 Africa Cup Nations, showed that their qualification for the 2016 Men’s Olympic Football Tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil didn’t come on a platter.

The Nigerian team was widely criticised for conceding two goals against Mali in their opening game, escaping with a 3-2 win, despite leading 3-0 at halftime, and also for losing a two-goal advantage to draw their second game 2-2 against Egypt. They however showed character in their final group game against Algeria, which ended goalless to qualify for the semi-final.

Nigeria captain Otebo Oghenekaro scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the 76th minute after a Senegalese player deliberately handled the ball in the box.

With the win, Nigeria became the first Africa side to book their place in Rio before Algeria beat South Africa to the second spot in the second semi-final game.

As Nigeria and Algeria meet in the final of the U-23 AFCON on Saturday (today), they would have started pondering on the reality of facing tougher sides, including champions of South America and Europe, in Rio.

All other continental Olympic qualifiers have been concluded, except that of Asia, which would be held in January, as the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. The top three teams in the tournament will qualify.

The UEFA European U-21 Championship was held in Czech Republic in June, and winners Sweden, qualified for Rio alongside Denmark, Germany and Portugal.

Mexico won the CONCACAF (North and Central America) Olympic qualifying championship and qualified along with finalists Honduras. Third-place USA will play-off against Colombia, who placed second in the CONMEBOL (South America).

The OFC qualifying competition was the Pacific Games, which was held in July in Papua New Guinea, with champions, Fiji, booking Oceania’s sole ticket to Rio.

The South American U-20 Championship was played in Uruguay in January/February and winners, Argentina, qualified.

Below are the profiles of the teams Siasia’s boys are likely to face in Rio:

Brazil

As hosts, Brazil would be seeking to win the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament gold, which has eluded them despite contesting for it 12 times. They have reached the final in three Olympics – Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and London 2012 – but had to settle for silver on each occasion. They won bronze at Atlanta 1996, where Nigeria beat them in the semi-final after a dramatic comeback, and also at Beijing 2008.

Despite their guaranteed spot as hosts, Brazil took part in the 2015 South American U-20 Championship, which served as the qualifying competition for Rio 2016. They finished fourth having lost to hosts Uruguay in the group stage and to Argentina and Colombia in the final phase.

Argentina

According to FIFA, Argentina were the first country to qualify for Rio 2016. The Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 gold medallists, got their Olympic ticket after winning the South American U-20 Championship, which was held between January and February. On their way to Rio, they beat Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil and Uruguay and lost only to Paraguay in the group stage. Argentina scored 24 goals in their nine South American U-20 Championship games, and nine of those goals were scored by River Plate striker Giovanni Simeone.

Denmark

Denmark, who has won silver thrice and bronze once in the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament will be making their ninth appearance.

The Danes topped their group at the 2015 UEFA U-21 European Championship in the Czech Republic,which served as Europe’s Olympic qualifying tournament, despite losing to Germany. By topping Group A they qualified for the Olympics and the semi-final, where they lost to their Nordic rivals Sweden.

Germany

Though unconvincing during the European qualifiers, the Germany U-23 team hopes to replicate the success of their senior team, who won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, humiliating the hosts on their way to the final.

Despite their senior-level success, Germany have yet to play in the final of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament. Their best performance came in their most recent appearance in 1988, when they won bronze.

During the 2015 UEFA U-21 European Championship, Germany 1-1 draw with Serbia, beat Denmark, and drew 1-1 with Czech Republic. They were thrashed 5-0 in the semi-final.

Portugal

The Portuguese, who would be making their fourth appearance in the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament, would parade one of the strongest European squad in Rio.

They lost to Sweden in a penalty shootout after the final of the 2015 UEFA U-21 European Championship ended goalless. In the group stage, they beat England, and drew with Italy and Sweden to book their tickets to Rio 2016.

Sweden

The Swedes will come to Rio as European champions after winning their first UEFA U-21 European Championship in the Czech Republic. They placed second in their group, and qualified for the Olympics. They went on to beat Denmark 4-1 in the semi-final before goalkeeper Patrick Carlgren, won the final for them against Portugal, when he saved William Carvalho’s spot kick during a decisive penalty shootout.

Fiji

This will be Fiji’s first appearance at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament. The Fiji team made of the bulk of the team that represented the country at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand were unbeaten in the Oceania’s qualifying campaign for Rio 2016, which was conducted as part of the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua, New Guinea.

In the group stage, Fiji demolished a non-FIFA Member Association Micronesia 38-0 and drew with Vanuatu and Tahiti. They beat hosts Papua New Guinea 3-1 in the semi-final and booked their ticket to Rio after defeating Vanuatu on penalties in the final.

Honduras

For Honduras, it will be their fourth appearance in the Men’s Olympic Tournament, having participated in Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

They beat USA 2-0 in the semi-final of the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament to secure their direct qualification to Rio, after placing second in Group B. Honduras however lost 2-0 to Mexico in the final.

Mexico

Mexico are coming to Rio as defending champions and CONCACAF champions. They won gold at the London 2012 Olympics beating Brazil 2-1 in the final at Wembley.

On their way to Rio via the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Mexico beat Costa Rica 4-0, Haiti1-0, and Honduras 2-1 in the group stage and beat Canada 2-0 in the semi-final before beating Honduras again 2-0 in the final.

Examining Nigeria’s chances against these teams, ex-international, Garba Lawal, who was part of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic gold-winning team, said there was the need to inject new players into Siasia’s team.

Lawal told our correspondent that it is likely that a good number of the players that played in the African Olympics qualifiers will not be in the squad that will represent Nigeria at the Olympics.

“We need to wait and see Siasia’s programme for the Olympics. Maybe most of these players are not going to Rio. You can never tell in football; anything can happen,” Lawal said.

“This is Olympics; the task ahead is very big. The coach has to start looking for players in that age category and identify those he can take. He can include some players, who are playing in Europe but then he should have plan B with home-based players, because not all European clubs will be willing to release their players.”

Also, former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju, said despite qualifying, the Nigerian team need to improve ahead of the Olympics.

Adepoju said, “Let them finish with the African Championship and then preparations will start for the Olympics. I believe the handlers of the team know what they need to do to get them prepared to face teams from Europe and South America at the Olympics. I think the team can do better. There is much room for improvement in the team. I believe they will still improve before the Olympics.”

The Men’s Olympic Football Tournament will kick off on August 4, 2016, with the opening match scheduled to hold in Brasilia while the final will be at the Maracana Stadium, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro.

The women’s tournament will kick off on August 3, 2016 at the Olympic Stadium, Rio de Janeiro and the women’s final will also be played at the Maracana Stadium.

In total, seven stadiums will be used, with 2014 FIFA World Cup host venues in Belo Horizonte, the capital Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador and Sao Paulo all ready for the Olympics.

Source: Punch