The Nigeria Under 23 football team, christened the ‘Dream Team VI’, Saturday, August 20, 2016, won the country’s first medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
The Samson Siasia tutored side defeated Honduras 3-2 in the third place match of the men’s football event to win bronze medal which happen to be Nigeria’s first medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Dream Team took the lead in the 34th minute when John Obi Mikel collected a pass from Ezekiel, made a forward move, dribbled two defenders and crossed pass goalkeeper Lopez to a well-position Umar Sadiq who slotted in effortlessly.
Dream Team VI win bronze medal in Rio 2016 Olympics.
The game ended 1-0 in half time in favour of Nigeria but four minutes into the second half, Aminu Umar extended Nigeria’s lead when Mikel’s shot was blocked by Lopez to gift the scorer a free ball.
Sadiq got his brace and Nigeria’s third goal in the 56th minute, after he met Mikel’s through pass well and rounded off the defence to fire home the third for the team 3-0.
With this, many had thought the Dream Team VI were home and dry, only for Honduras to wake up from their slumber after Antony Lozano scored in the 71st minute to reduce the deficit, while defender Marcelo Pereira’s free header, off a free kick, went past Daniel to make it 3-2 in the 86th minute.
Though the Dream Team VI had a terrific journey to Rio 2016 after the team was abandoned in Atlanta Georgia by the Sports Ministry, they dusted the bad experience off with a 5-4 win against Japan in their first game, a 2-0 win against Denmark in their second group game and a 3-2 win against Honduras in the third place match today.
The Team however recorded two defeats in Rio Olympics, a 2-0 defeat against Colombia in their third group game and a 2-0 defeat against Germany in the semi final on Wednesday.
With the Dream Team winning bronze medal, this means Samson Siasia has won both Silva and Bronze medal for the Nigerian Under 23 football team.
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