Nigeria Olympic team coach Samson Siasia has said anything short of the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio in August will not be celebrated back home.
Siasia led Nigeria to the final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics against Argentina and that was after the country made history as the first African side to win the Olympic football tournament in 1996.
“It is not going to be a walk in the park. It is going to be a very difficult task. But the thing is that anything short of Olympic gold is nothing because nobody will even welcome us when we return without the gold,” he said.
“So, it is a difficult one. But we will do the best that we can; so far these players (confirmed foreign-based stars) are coming. We will know exactly how we are playing and what will come out from the players we have.
African U-23 champions Nigeria are drawn against European champions Sweden, Asian champions Japan and Colombia in the group phase of the Rio Olympics.Siasia’s build-up has suffered several hitches after several of the country’s top stars were blocked by their European clubs from featuring in the competition.The affected players are Premier League stars Odion Ighalo (Watford), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal) and Kelechi Iheanacho (Manchester City).Siasia has also complained that the squad in training camp in Atlanta, United States of America, are not motivated as they have not received any allowances since they departed Nigeria last month.
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