Paris 2024: Olympic Eagles get new venue for Guinea clash

The Nigeria Football Federation has confirmed a change in venue ahead of the first-leg tie between the Nigeria U-23 and their Guinean counterparts.

A statement issued on Thursday by Ademola Olajire, NFF’s Director of Communication, indicated the Nigerian U23 boys, also known as the Olympic Eagles, will host their Guinean counterparts at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Wednesday, 22 March.

This game was initially planned to take place on the same day at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Adamasingba, Ibadan, but no reason was given for the change in venue.

To get to this stage of the series, the 1996 champions successfully defeated the Tanzania U23 team 3-1 on aggregate in October 2022.

They won 2-0 at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan after both teams drew the first leg in Dar es Salaam at 1-1.

The winner of the two-legged tie between Nigeria and Guinea will progress to the finals of the Africa U23 Cup of Nations, which is scheduled to be held in Morocco later this year.

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It is also at this tournament in Morocco that Africa’s representatives at next year’s Men’s Olympic Football Tournament in Paris will be decided.

The return leg of the game against Guinea will take place in Morocco on Monday, 27 March.

Nigeria has a rich history in Olympic men’s football, having won the gold medal in 1996 and reached the final in 2008.

Nonetheless, the country has been struggling to qualify for recent editions of the Olympics, having infamously missed out at the London 2012 games and most recently at the Tokyo Olympic Games.