(ATR) The Nigerian Olympic soccer team is returning to the scene of its greatest triumph to train ahead of the Rio Olympics this summer.
Nigeria became the first African country to win a major world tournament when they beat Argentina to win gold at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Now the Dream Team, as Nigeria’s under-23 squad is called, will be looking for those golden memories to rub off on this year’s team.
Samson Siasia, Nigeria’s head coach, says "Coming back to Atlanta 20 years after winning the gold medal will instill confidence in our team. The southern climate, which is similar to Rio’s, will allow the team to further build physically and mentally every day that we train."
History and climate aren’t the only two things that Atlanta has going for it, however. There is only a one hour time difference between Atlanta and Rio and with direct flights between the two cities there should not be any jet lag to battle once the team gets to Brazil.
Bunmi Jinadu, the founder and CEO of United Soccer Africa, told Around the Rings that the idea to use Atlanta as a training base for the team came about initially because Siasia is a long-time Atlanta resident.
United Soccer Africa is working with the Nigeria Football Federation in booking a series of pre-Olympic matches.
While the Nigerian team will be training at the home stadium of the minor league Atlanta Silverbacks, Jinadu toldATR a lack of FIFA-approved stadiums with grass turf in the Atlanta area means the friendly matches will be played outside Georgia, most likely in "Major League Soccer-type stadiums."
The match schedule is still being finalized as are the dates for outreach events and open training sessions in the Atlanta area.
Jinadu says that he is trying to get other African Olympic teams to join Nigeria in Atlanta. There are four other African teams that have qualified for Rio: Algeria and South Africa on the men’s side and Zimbabwe and South Africa on the women’s.
Written by Gerard Farek
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