HEAD Coach of the Nigeria U-23 team, Samson Siasia has
disclosed that the draws for the football event of the Rio Olympic Games which
saw his side pooled against Sweden, Japan and Colombia is not a bad one.
The draws held on Thursday at the auditorium of the
Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro saw the Dream Team VI, the reigning African
champions, drawn against Asian champions Japan, European champions Sweden and
Colombia, who beat USA in an intercontinental play –off to reach Rio.
Speaking from Rio de Janeiro after the draws, Coach
Siasia said there are no good or bad draws, and he believes the Dream Team can qualify from the group.
"For me, there is no good or bad draw, for all the teams played qualifiers
to get here. Besides, the Group B that we are in has two continental champions
alongside Nigeria, so I don't expect it to be a stroll in the park for us, but
with quality preparations I am sure we will pick one of the tickets from this
group.
"My target in Rio is to pick the gold medal having
won the silver medal in Beijing in 2008, so when I get back to Nigeria, I will
put heads together with my assistants to work out our preparations for the
Games. I am confident that with the calibre of players at our disposal, we will
achieve our goal."
On the issue of which three over-aged players to select
for the Games, Coach Siasia said: "Yes, I already have in mind the three
over aged players that I intend using at the Games. But I will not disclose
their names for now as I think it's still too early to do so."
No comments:
Post a Comment