Former Nigeria coach, Bonfrere Jo, has
said the country’s Under-23 team will not find it easy winning gold in
the men’s football event of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.
Nigeria qualified for Rio 2016 after winning the 2015 CAF Under-23 African Cup of Nations in Senegal.
The country won gold in the football
event of the Atlanta ’96 Olympics to emerged as the first African team
to win gold in the football event of the competition.
Cameroon repeated did same at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Bonfrere, who led Nigeria to achieve the
feat in 1996, said Nigeria should not be considered as one of the
favourites to win gold this time round.
The former Al Ahly of Egypt coach, who spoke on Sports Radio, Brila FM,
said, “I don’t know if Nigeria can win the football gold medal at the
next Olympics. They didn’t win anything at the last one and they seem to
have been struggling since the last time they won it.
“But there’s always a chance a team can
do it at every other Olympics, otherwise they don’t have to go. Every
team at the Olympics stands an equal chance of winning the medal
eventually. They just have to believe in their ability to do it. They
must also work very hard and trust in the players when the time comes
for the Olympics.”
Nigeria have made six appearances in the
football event at the Olympics. The current manager of the Under-23
team Samson Siasia helped Nigeria win silver at the 2008 Beijing
Olympics. Algeria and South Africa will also represent Africa at the
Olympics.
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