TheCable

Amaju Pinnick, president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has charged the U-23 Eagles to set their sights on claiming a ticket to the Rio 2016 Olympics.

In a statement released on the federation’s website, Pinnick urged the team coached by Samson Siasia to finish in the top three at the end of the summit.

“Presently, we are on a roll of good results and we are determined that those must continue,” he said.

“The NFF is backing Samson Siasia because he is always keen to succeed. He has brought new, exciting faces to the group and there is confidence all around again. The ticket to the Olympics is non-negotiable.

“It’s been an exciting past few months during which we have won U-17 World Cup, qualified for the U-20 Women’s World Cup and reached the group stage of the African series for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.”

Nigeria failed to qualify for the London Olympics in 2012, four years after Siasia led the team to silver at the Beijing 2008 Games.

Pinnick is optimistic that Senegal will again prove to be a happy hunting ground for Nigerian football after the Flying Eagles won the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations there eight months ago.

“We won the U-20 Cup of Nations in Senegal at the beginning of the year; now, we are back there for the Olympics ticket and the trophy. We will achieve both, because Samson Siasia has put together a crack squad and he has the support of the NFF all the way.”

The Nigeria U-23 team will also play Egypt and Algeria in the group phase. Only the top three finishers will qualify to represent Africa at the men’s football tournament at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil between August 3 and August 20.