Nigeria’s Dream Team have vowed to bounce back in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers against Senegal after they lost their opening game to hosts Morocco. Tuesday’s late night match-up is a must-win for both teams after Senegal also lost 1-0 to Algeria in their first game in Group A.
The Dream Team V lost to a 28th minute penalty by Abdelaziz Barrada after Emmanuel Anyanwu upended Soufiane Bidaoui inside the box. And Kingsley Udoh remarked later: “To lose this match was very painful and heartbreaking because we let Nigerians down. But we believe that since it’s the first game we lost, we can prepare for the second game against Senegal and cross the hurdle ahead. “What I would tell Nigerians is to keep praying for the team and I’m very sure we will not let them down against Senegal.”“We will go all out to win this game,” added goalkeeper Dele Ajiboye, one of the few players to come out of the Morocco defeat with their reputation intact
Coach Austin Eguavoen has equally remained upbeat despite the setback against Morocco. “We knew from the onset that it was going to be a difficult game against the host nation. We were unlucky but that’s football for you. All we have to do now is put this game behind us and begin to prepare for the games ahead,” stated Eguavoen, who has now been ordered to work with Eagles’ coach Stephen Keshi. “I have to start working on the psychology of my players; to put them in the right frame of mind for the game against Senegal. But one thing I’m confident about is that we will pick a ticket for the Olympics,” Eguavoen reckons.
Senegal are a largely unknown quantity but captained by Stephane Badji they were outplayed by Algeria in their first game in Morocco and should have lost by a bigger margin but for the poor finishing of Algeria skipper Mohamed Chalali.
A pointer to how much Algeria dominated was that goalkeeper Ousmane Mane was outstanding for the West Africans as he was forced to pull off several saves to keep his team in the game. As part of their build-up to this tournament the late arrival to Morocco drew twice with their Egyptian counterparts in Cairo. Coach Abdoulaye Sarr is in Morocco without three of his foreign-based pros who were not released by their clubs.