Atlanta ’96: When Nigeria ruled the world

There are effectively two eras in Nigerian football: before 1994 and after; the former corresponding to a virtual Dark Age, and the latter, the summer of 1996 especially, to the Renaissance.

The promise and excitement of the 1994 World Cup in the USA had been truncated in rather anticlimactic circumstances in the Round of 16 by eventual finalists Italy,

Senegal U23 0-1 Nigeria U23: Daniel the hero as Dream Team qualify for Rio Olympics

Nigeria have qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics after defeating hosts Senegal in the semi-final of the 2015 Africa U23 Championship.

Etebo Oghenekaro’s penalty in the 75th minute was all the Dream Team VI needed to ease past the hosts after Ousseynou Thioune had handled the ball in his penalty area to prevent Eyo Ebong from scoring.

Ibrahima Keita failed to put his side ahead in the first half after seeing his penalty saved by man of the match Emmanuel Daniel who guessed the right way.

Dream Team VI escape plane crash, stranded in Accra

Nigeria U23 team escaped plane crash on their way to Gambia on Sunday morning towards perfecting strategies for the African U23 Championship billed for Senegal.

The Dream Team VI opted for the west African country after their trip to Morocco was cancelled owing to visa issues.

Junior Ajayi, Taiwo Awoniyi top 20-man squad for Congo game

Nigeria U23 coach Samson Siasia has named his 20-man squad for this weekend’s African U23 qualifier against Congo in Pointe Noire.

The Dream Team VI defeated the east Africans 2-1 in the first leg with Junior Ajayi grabbing a brace, and must get at least a draw to secure a ticket to the tournament billed for Senegal.

Siasia picked his squad to confront the Red Devils after defeating a local side 3-0 in a practice game in Abuja on Wednesday.