TheCable

Guinea have halted the Olympic Eagles’ dreams of featuring at the U-23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The loss also means the U-23 Eagles will not participate in the football event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The Salisu Yusuf side fell 2-0 against Guinea in the second leg of their final qualifying fixture in Rabat, Morocco.

The Nigerian team had played a 0-0 draw against their opponents last Wednesday at the Moshood Abiola stadium, Abuja.

In the thrilling encounter on Tuesday night, both teams fought hard for one hour before Guinea took the lead.

They added a second goal 15 minutes later to the consternation of the Nigerian squad and their coach.

All the Olympic Eagles needed was just a draw to qualify for the AFCON slated for Morocco next month.

Following the defeat, Nigeria have been denied the opportunity of qualifying for the Olympics.

The next year’s Olympic Games are scheduled to hold from July 24 to August 10.

This will be the second time in a row that Nigeria will fail to qualify for the football event of the Olympics.

The last time Nigeria U-23 Eagles went to the Olympics was in 2016 when the nation won a bronze medal in Brazil.

The defeat was a bitter pill to swallow for a team that emerged champions of the Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Senegal in 2015. The team also reached the finals staged in Egypt four years ago.   

The 4th edition of the U23 AFCON tournament will be hosted by Morocco between June 4 and July 8, 2023.