Nigeria’s Under-23 side were unable to overcome their German counterparts in the men’s Olympic football tournament semi-final in Rio, losing 2-0 and ending their quest to earn a gold medal in the competition.
Lukas Klosertmann and Nils Peterson scored Germany’s goals on Wednesday night in Rio to secure their place in the final against hosts Brazil, while condemning Nigeria to the third-place match.
Nigeria’s Dream Team VI enjoyed a good tournament, emerging top of their group on six points after wins against Japan and Sweden.
They lost to Colombia in the final group match, but went on to beat Denmark 2-0 in the quarter-finals, setting up the semi-final encounter with the Germans.
Germany proved too much for coach Samson Siasia’s Nigerian U23 side, who were captained by Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel as one of the overage players they are able to select.
There will be great disappointment in the Nigerian ranks, as the country has enjoyed glory at past Olympic Games tournaments, and they would have wanted to add to those impressive stats.
Nigeria won gold at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta with a 3-2 victory over Argentina. The earned the silver medal at Beijing 2008, losing 1-0 to Argentina in the final.
The Dream Team VI will now face Honduras for the bronze medal, with the central Americans having lost 6-0 to a rampant Brazilian team playing in front of their home crowd.
The Nigerians will aim to cap off their Rio 2016 journey with the third-place medal, but Honduras will be playing their hearts out to do the same after a massive disappointment in their semi-final against Brazil.
