NIGERIA’S Olympic Eagles will host Guinea in an U-23 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan on March 22, the Nigeria Football Federation has announced.
The clash is the first leg of the final qualifying round for the continental competition, which will be held in Morocco later in the year.
This will be the second time the Nigeria U-23s are playing at the Lekan Salami Stadium, after they overcame Tanzania at the same venue in the second round.
The first leg had ended 1-1 at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam in October last year, before Timilehin Ogunniyi and captain Success Makanjuola struck in Ibadan to take the Olympic Eagles through to the final round 3-1 on aggregate.
The tie with Guinea will determine who will progress to the fourth Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, which in turn will serve as the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Paris, France in 2024.
Nigeria won the second edition of the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal in 2015, and then won the men’s football bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The West African giants were the first team in history from the continent to win football gold at the Olympics in 1996 in Atlanta, United States of America, paving the way for Cameroon to claim it four years later in Sydney, Australia.
