In a crushing blow to Nigeria’s Olympic dreams, the nation’s U-23 football team will not be competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics after suffering a 2-0 loss to Guinea in the African qualifying tournament on Tuesday
The Olympic Eagles as the Nigeria U-23 team are referred to could only get a barren draw in the first leg played a few days ago at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja
That meant the coach Salisu Yusuf tutored side needed victory in Tuesday’s outing in Morocco.
However, after holding the Guineans for an hour, the Olympic Eagles capitulated moments later as they conceded two quick-fire goals in the 61st and 73rd minutes.
It was Algassime Bah who opened the scoring for Morlaye Cisse’s men before Alseny Soumah scored the second goal from a direct free kick.
With the victory, Guinea has qualified for the U-23 AFCON from where Africa’s representative at the Olympics will emerge.
This latest defeat marks a significant setback for the Olympic Eagles, who had hoped to stage a return to the Olympics after missing out on the action at the last Tokyo Olympic Games
Nigeria’s absence means they cannot improve on their impressive history of Olympic football success, which includes winning the gold medal in 1996 and the bronze medal in 2016.
Tuesday’s defeat has sparked conversations about the suitability of coach Salisu Yusuf for the national teams as he also failed in getting qualification for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) tournament held in Algeria.
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