At long last, Nigeria has medaled in the soon to be concluded Olympic games taking place in Brazil. Nigeria’s representatives at the football event of the games edged Honduras 3-2 in the third place match played on Saturday, August 20. The U-23 team’s victory at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte secured a bronze for the country.
Sadiq Umar scored the first goal of the match in the 34th minute, Aminu Umar fired in a second in the 49th minute. Sadiq Umar made it a brace for himself 7 minutes later, a composed finish from a Mikel Obi assist. However, the Hondurans came back into the game with strikes from Anthony Lozano and Marcelo Pereira in the 71st and 86th minutes. Thankfully, the Dream Team was able to hold on to their slender lead, and end their campaign at the games with a medal after the disappointment of the semi-final loss to Germany.
The team will leave the Olympics knowing that they could have gotten a better outcome; nevertheless, they haven’t fallen too far. They have at least given Nigerians something to cheer.