Nigeria’s Olympic Team, the Dream Team VI, will face Denmark in the quarterfinals this evening after topping their group.
The team lost 2-0 to Colombia in their last group but still finished top of their group after securing victory in their first two matches.
Nigeria finished with six points ahead of Colombia who finished with five points.
Dream Team skipper John Obi Mikel says as the last African football team still remaining at the Rio Olympic Games, Nigeria is confident of going all the way at the Games’ football event.
The Chelsea star posted the statement yesterday on his social media site Twitter ahead of tomorrow’s clash against group A runners-up Denmark.
“We are the last African team in the Rio Olympics and now we face the Danish Dynamite in the quarter finals but we believe,” Mikel wrote.
The Danish team beat the Dream Team 6-2 in a recent game at the Suwon International Tournament in Korea prior to the Olympics.
The stakes will be a lot higher for Nigeria against Denmark because victory at the match will catapult them into the medal zone of the summer games, where they will battle the winners of the quarterfinal between Portugal and Germany.
Coach Samson Siasia has said he will concentrate on building a solid defence for the quarter final clash.
Latest developments between Nigerian players and the country’s officials may dampen the morale of the footballers, which may in turn affect their performance in Saturday’s match.
There are reports that the team already skipped training on Thursday after arriving Salvador after playing their group stage games in Manaus and Sao Paulo.
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