Nigeria Olympic Eagles Vs Liberia – All African Games Qualifier Preview

Nigeria’s U-23 senior national football team will face their Liberian counterpart in an African Games qualifier on Saturday, 16 April 2011, to be played at the Samuel Kanyon Doe complex at 8:00 p.m. from Nigeria.

Dream Team V was ruthless was ruthless in their 1st round demolition of Equatorial Guinea whom they defeated 5-0 in the first leg played at 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 win with goals from Nnamdi Odumadi, Ekigho Ehiosun, Lukman Haruna, Nosa Igiebor and Danny Uchechi.

The meeting 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 triumph against Equatorial Guinea. Super Eagles fringe player Ekigho Ehiosun, who scored in his debut for the Super Eagles senior team, is likely to lead the team’s attack. He also scored in the first leg of their clash with Equatorial Guinea, earning a hat-trick in the reverse encounter.

The starting line-up will be heavily 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 Ghana’s match against Benin for the Zone 3 ticket.

Liberian team
Not much is known about the Liberian Olympic team, but they have a strong squad with the ability to cause an upset if given the chance. The team recently lost one of their star players, Patrick Doeplah, in a mysterious circumstance ahead of their qualifying match against the Ivory Coast.

Prediction
Dream Team V has enough ammunition at their 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 met at this level of competition and the match promises to be very exciting as both teams would be playing desperately for the maximum three points at stake.