Three goals from Ekigho Ehiosun,
Ganiyu Oseni and Ahmed Musa was
all the coach Austin Eguavoen-
tutored U-23 team needed on
Sunday to beat their Tanzania
counterparts to qualify for the last
round of the qualifying series for
London 2012. The last round will
comprise of eight teams from
which three will qualify
automatically and the fourth will be
involved in a play-off with an Asian
country.
The tension-soaked match started
on a bright note for the Nigerian
team as the first goal came in the
fourth minute through Ekigho
Ehiosun. But the Dream Team failed
to capitalise on a myriad of chances
that came their way while their
Tanzanian opponents were also
guilty of frittering away scoring
chances to equalize.
Ganiyu Oseni and Ahmed Musa
however spared the blushes of the
Nigerian team along with the fans
that were packed into the Samuel
Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.
Oseni scored in the 57th minute
while Musa, who joined the team on
Friday scored in the 91st minute to
finally seal the win over the
stubborn Tanzanian side.
The young Tanzanians side though
gave a good account of themselves
which forced Nigerian soccer
ambassador, Kanu Nwankwo to
join the technical bench in the 64th
minute to add his experience to the
Austin Eguavoen-led technical crew
when the score was two goals to
nil. Kanu told the boys that they
must make it three goals to forestall
any occurrence of the Tanzanians
pulling a goal back and qualifying on
the away goals rule.
The match was played under the
scorching sun and the watchful
eyes of rain marabouts believed to
have been contracted by the
Nigerian Football Federation in
conjunction with the Edo State
Football Association to stop the
heavens from opening up
apparently to forestall what
happened on Saturday which led to
the postponement of the match to
Sunday.
The presence of former governor of
Edo State, Lucky Igbinedion
however caused mild drama when
he was introduced in the stadium.
The capacity filled stadium went into
a booing spree for over five
minutes, an apparent expression of
disappointment for his eight year
rule as governor of the state.
Musa, scorer of the third goal will
however be absent when the team
confronts Ghana's U-23 team in the
first Leg of the All African Games
qualifiers this weekend at the same
venue. He though advised his
teammates to work with the same
team spirit and it would see them
through.

Nigeria Team are up to the task.

great courage. That should be said by the players.

I hope that is maintained.