The Nigerian Under-23 national senior football team will face their Liberian counterpart on Saturday 16 April 2011 in an African Games qualifying match to be played at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Complex at 8:00pm local time. from Nigeria.
Dream Team V were ruthless in their 1st round demolition of Equatorial Guinea whom they defeated 5-0 in the first leg played at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City Nigeria before completing the job in the reverse played in Malabo winning 4-1 to advance to the second round on a 9-1 aggregate goal with goals from Nnamdi Odumadi, Ekigho Ehiosun, Lukman Haruna, Nosa Igiebor and Danny Uchechi.
The encounter with Liberia will see a handful of foreign players in a team that is completely dominated by local players who were part of the first round win against Equatorial Guinea. Super Eagles fringe player Ekigho Ehiosun, who scored in his Super Eagles senior team debut, is likely to lead the team’s attack. He also scored in the first leg of their clash with Equatorial Guinea, netting a hat trick in the reverse game.
The starting lineup will be largely dominated by some foreign players like Nnamdi Odumadi, Rabiu Ibrahim and Daniel Uchechi. Goalkeeper Dele Ajiboye will likely be between the posts, while defender Kingsley Udoh and Ibok Edet will create plenty of defensive cover. The winner of the home and away tie will face the winner of the Ghana vs. Benin match for the Zone 3 ticket.
liberian team
Not much is known about the Liberian Olympic team, but they have a strong team with the ability to cause surprises if given the chance. The team recently lost one of their star players, Patrick Doeplah, in a mysterious circumstance before their qualifying game against the Ivory Coast.
Prediction
Dream Team V has enough ammunition at its disposal to eliminate any opposition from the Liberian team. Nigeria has always been a dominant force at this level and the trend is likely to continue. The Olympic Eagles should be able to add the three points at stake in this match. The best result the Liberians can get is a draw which can only happen if coach Austin Eguaveon decides to deploy a more defensive approach to the game.
Both teams have never faced each other at this level of competition and the match promises to be very exciting as both teams would be desperately playing for the maximum three points on the line.