•Dream Team IV players Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Nigeria’s Dream Team IV square up against the Young Elephants of Ivory Coast today in one of the quarterfinal fixtures in the men’s football event at the ongoing Beijing Olympics.

Head or tail, Africa is assured of a slot in the semi-finals, as the winners between Nigeria and Ivory Coast are certain to progress to the battle for the last four teams.
For the Samson Siasia-tutored Nigerian side, the West African derby would be a grudge match as it presents them with a chance to avenge the two painful defeats handed the senior national team, the Super Eagles, by the Elephants of Ivory Coast at the last two editions of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt 2006 and in Ghana early this year.

On paper, the Dream Team IV are favoured to carry the day because Nigeria boasts of an intimidating pedigree in the men’s football event at the Olympics. Apart from winning gold at the Atlanta’96 edition of the Games, Nigeria featured at the Sydney 2000 edition although the then Dream Team II could not replicate the feat recorded by their immediate predecessors.

Whereas Nigeria is making her third appearance in the men’s soccer event at the global sports fiesta, Ivory Coast is making her debut at the ongoing Games, and in grand style too.
To qualify for today’s quarterfinal, the Young Elephants finished second in their group in the preliminary stage behind Argentina, while the Dream Team IV topped their group with seven points following their goalless draw in their first match against their Dutch counterparts and two successive victories against Japan and the United States of America.

A lot is expected from the Nigerian team, which are largely made up of the Flying Eagles squad that won silver at the 2005 World Youth Championship in Holland under the tutelage of Coach Samson Siasia, who is also calling the technical shots in the current Olympic squad.

Although they have yet to lose a game, analysts believe that the Dream Team were not very convincing in their 2–1 victory over a 10-man United States team in their last group match on Wednesday. They would, therefore, need to lift their game today against the highly enterprising Ivoriens, who are poised to make a lasting impression in their debut at the Olympics.
The players Siasia must find solution to their forays in the Ivorien line up are captain Gervinho and Chelsea of England attacking midfielder, Salomon Kalon, both of who combined effectively to ensure qualification for the quarterfinal for the Young Elephants.

Both players will no doubt give the Nigerian defence full hands in today’s decisive quarterfinal clash billed for the city of Qinhuangdao.

The cheering news in the Nigerian camp is the return of defender Onyekachi Apam, who missed the match against the United States following two yellow cards he bagged in the first two group matches.
The Ivoriens will certainly find the quartet of Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi, Obinna Nsofor, Solomon Okoronkwo and Osaze Odemwengie in the Nigerian attack as tough nuts to crack. But the real battle would be fought in the midfield where the athletic-built Ivoriens appear to have an edge.

Both Coach Siasia and his counterpart in charge of the Ivorien team have admitted that today’s encounter would be a tight and tough fight as both sides are familiar foes. The Ivoriens’ team coach believes that the victory of the Elephants over the Super Eagles at the Ghana 2008 Nations Cup early in the year would serve as a morale booster for his team, but Siasia countered him and said it would be a different ballgame at the Qinhuangdao Stadium today.

Nigeria and Ivory Coast have met four times at the Under-23 level, with Nigeria winning three times as against one to the Ivoriens. The only time Nigeria lost was in the first leg of the All Africa Games’ qualifier played in Abidjan on May 19, 1991. The game ended 1–0 in favour of Ivory Coast, but Nigeria won the reversed fixture 3–0 on June 1, same year.

However, it was the Nigerian side that pipped their Ivorien counterparts in Abidjan on March 4, 1995 and completed the humiliation with an emphatic 2–0 victory in the return leg on March 11, 1995.

Will the Dream Team IV give Nigerians this day? Victory against the Ivoriens would be a sweet revenge for the two painful defeats Nigeria suffered in the hands of Cote d’Ivoire at the last two Nations Cup in Egypt and Ghana.

Olympic q-finals fixtures
Argentina vs Holland (Shanghai)
Cote d’Ivoire vs Nigeria (Qinhuangdao)
Brazil vs Cameroon (Shenyang)
Belgium vs Italy (Beijing)