Coach of the U-23 team, Samson Siasia
The Nigeria U-23 team have qualified for the CAF African Championship on a 2-1 aggregate scoreline after forcing their Congolese counterparts to a goalless draw at the Stade Municipal du Pointe Noire on Sunday.
It was, however, a tale of lamentations for the Super Falcons who lost 2-1 to hosts Equatorial Guinea in Bata also on Sunday. The Falcons have thus crashed out in their race to be at the Olympics as Equatorial Guinea qualified on a 3-2 aggregate, courtesy of their 1-1 draw in the first leg fixture in Abuja two weeks ago.
The U-23 men, coached by Samson Siasia, have thus joined Senegal, Algeria, Egypt, Zambia, Tunisia and South Africa, with either Mali or Gabon, in the CAF tournament to be held in Dakar from November 28 to December 11. The top three teams at the tournament will represent Africa at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
Nigeria had won the first leg fixture 2-1 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, a fortnight ago as Junior Ajayi scored a brace, while Moise Nkounkou pulled one back for the visitors.
All they needed was the draw, which they got, but Usman Mohammed came close to putting Nigeria in the lead only for goalkeeper Christoffer Mafoumbi to stop the goal-bound shot.
In Bata, Ngozi Okobi had put the Falcons ahead in the 12th minute, but they failed to hold on to the lead as the hosts fought back late in the second half to equalise. Both sides held on and were only separated in the extra time.
The hosts took advantage of a tiring Nigeria team to score their second goal in the second half of the extra time thus ending the Falcons’ dream of being at the Olympics.
Nigeria failed to feature in the football events of the 2012 London Olympics as the U-23 team and the Falcons were beaten by their Ghanaian counterparts.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s Black Queens have also crashed out in the Olympic Games qualifiers after drawing 3-3 with Cameroon over two legs
The Lionesses put their preparation troubles behind to scrap their way through the final stage of the road to Rio 2016 by coming from behind twice to hold the Black Queens to a 2-2 draw in Accra on Saturday.
Ghana, boosted by the 1-1 first leg results in Yaoundé, opened the scoring through striker Samira Sulemana in the 16th minute but Cameroon soon equalised after poor defending by the Black Queens. Ngono Mani capitalised on the defensive mishap to level score.
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