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Olympic
football
Siasia, Nsofor sure of gold
By Kunle SOlaja reporting from Beijing
Friday, August 22, 2008
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•Samson
Siasia
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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Samson Siasia is confident his Dream Team will do Nigeria
proud by beating Argentina on Saturday for the 2008 Olympics
football gold.
Speaking in a television interview preview of the big game
on Thursday evening, Siasia said: "We know all about
Argentina ’s big players. We’ve played most of
them before and we know what to do and what not to do to get
victory.
"In 2005, they got two penalties because my defenders
were naïve and easily fell for their tricks. But it’s
different now; we have a more experienced and matured side.
It’s time to pay Argentina back in their own coins.
"Definitely, we have to be at our best to stop players
like Lionel Messi and Mascherano. But we have our game-plan
and the important thing is to try not to allow them get too
close often. We have improved all the way from Tianjin where
we started the tournament, and the match against Belgium showed
that the team have peaked at the right time.
"The Argentines should also be worried about this team.
We have fast strikers and there is no way they can stop us".
Siasia has made impact at almost every competition he has
attended both as player and coach in a career spanning 25
years. "It’s the Lord’s doing", he said
shortly.
Siasia scored Nigeria ’s only goal against Argentina
at the 1994 World Cup in USA, where free–kicks in dangerous
zones earned Argentina two goals to beat Nigeria . At the
1996 Olympics final, Argentina scored one goal from the penalty
spot and another from free –kick from the flank, and
three years ago, Argentina’s two goals in the 2-1 defeat
of Siasia’s U-20 guys in the World Cup final came through
penalty kicks.
"We’ll do our best to stop them. They won’t
have it easy without free –kicks or penalties. And that
is a message for us", added Ogbuke Obasi.
Obasi, whose German Club, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, nearly forced
him to return half away into the tournament, scored two goals
against Belgium in the semifinal, his first strikes of the
competition. He scored a fabulous goal against Argentina in
the 2005 WYC final, which was not enough to earn Nigeria victory.
"I’m looking forward to scoring against them again,
but the important thing is for the team to win".
Also speaking, striker, Obinna Nsofor, is confident that the
Nigerian Olympic team can grab gold.
Speaking to FIFA.com, the 23-year-old player stated that Dream
Team IV were capable of defeating the Albiceleste on Saturday,
even though both sides deserve to have reached the finals.
He stated: "I believe that it's our destiny to win the
gold. Both teams deserve to be in the final, but I think we
will be the ones who end up as the champions.
"We're really confident, but we'll just have to wait
and see. Argentina have the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio
Aguero, Juan Riquelme and Javier Mascherano in their squad
-they will give us a hard match.
Ever-confident, though, he continued: "It's not going
to be easy for them. We have some great individual players
and the coach has moulded us into a team.
"We have only conceded three goals during this tournament.
For me, our best performance was against Belgium, but we want
to be at our peak for the final match."
Nsofor also highlighted the growth that has occurred within
the team since the tournament began.
"It's a sweet feeling to know that the hard work before
and during the competition has taken us to the final. Reaching
the final was one of our objectives when we got here and now
we have to make sure we win the gold."
Nsofor and the Nigerian team will be going all-out for revenge,
having lost to the Argentines in the 2005 World Youth Cup
finals in the Netherlands. A Lionel Messi double was the difference
on that occasion.
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