By David Kabiyesi
Nigeria’s U-23 national team will attempt to put Guinea to the sword when both countries square up in winners takes all encounters today.
A goalless draw in the first leg played in Abuja means Nigeria will be going out for an outright win when both nation battle for Paris 2024 Olympic football tickets in Marrakech this evening.
Nigeria last qualified for 2016 edition where a bro ze was won by John Obi Mikel’s side won bronze. Nigeria was missing in action at Tokyo 2020 edition, and all eyes are on coach Salisu Yusuf to dig deep into his technical books of tricks and come out with a formation that will give Nigeria the much-desired edge over Guinea.
It remains to be seen if Olympic Eagles will rise to the occasion as they face a daunting task with Christopher Nwaeze.
Coach Salisu Yusuf is confident ahead of the match saying: We have a positive mindset to go there (Morocco) and win. It is football, when you do the right thing, you will get the opportunity to score; you can score and you can win, even away from home.
“The most important thing is that we did not lose here because they had two shots on goal, which were very critical, but thank God the defenders reacted very quickly to it.
“But I am very positive and still believe that we can still qualify if we work extra hard,” Yusuf said.
Yusuf blamed the little time he had to train with his boys for the failure to win in Abuja last week, adding that the days they had to work after the first leg has given them opportunity to blend better.
“We did not train together much, because we initially trained with the home (based) team, but when the Foreign-based came, we needed to mix.
“If you observed, there were five home-based and six foreign-based in the first half, but you see, that is another factor because there was no cohesion, but I think the two days will allow us to work there, they’re intelligent players. We’ll work on the tactics and strategies and we will see what happens in Morocco.” he said