Rio Olympics Football Bronze

Abuja – In spite of winning the bronze medal of the men’s football event of the ongoing Rio 2016 Olympics, fans who followed the Dream Team VI matches say they performed averagely. The fans on Saturday in Abuja, that the team was lucky to have played the third place match of the football

event. Nigeria won her first medal at the Games following the Dream Team VI 3-2 defeat of Honduras in the third place match on Saturday. Nigeria's players William Ekong (L) and John Obi Mikel (R) celebrate after receiving their bronze medals during the medal ceremony after defeating Honduras in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men's bronze medal football match at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on August 20, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / GUSTAVO ANDRADE Nigeria’s players William Ekong (L) and John Obi Mikel (R) celebrate after receiving their bronze medals during the medal ceremony after defeating Honduras in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games men’s bronze medal football match at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on August 20, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / GUSTAVO ANDRADE A businessman, Linus Okoh, who watched the match at a viewing centre in Abuja, said Nigeria’s football has nosedived. “We are Nigerians and we know that our football currently is on the average; you do not expect the Dream Team to perform magic. “The defence line is very porous and from the group stage one could observe that, and the match against Germany really exposed our weakness. “However, we thank God we are coming back with something,’’ Okoh said. Newspaper vendor Emeka Uchenna said Nigeria has yet to have a good football team. “We have good players in Nigeria compared to the ones that made the squad, but I don’t know why Samson Siasia decided to settle for the players he used. “When Ogenekaro Etebor was injured, there was no capable replacement for him and that was no good news for us and I can tell you that Nigeria has yet to have a formidable football team,’’ he said. But Musa Yohanna, a football player in FCT, said the team did their best. “Considering the situation that characterised the team’s participation before and during the Olympics, one can only appreciate them for coming this far. “Also, with the absence of players like Taiwo Awoniyi, and key player Etebor who was injured, one can also commend the team for putting in their best,’’ he added. Francis Inyang, a student said: “For me, I expected them to do better than this because the team was in camp for a long time and also travelled for training abroad. “Their style of play was not impressive at all. I had expected to see a a better team but was disappointed. “Anyway, the good thing is that we have a medal at least to compensate for the effort,’’ he said. NAN reports that this is Nigeria’s first Olympic medal since Beijing 2008 following Team Nigeria’s poor outing at the 2012 Olympics in London.