Olympic Eagles to confront Libya in Bengerdan

Nigeria’s U23 squad will take on their Libyan counterparts in the first leg, first round of the 3rd Africa U23 Cup of Nations qualifying series at the Bengerdan Stadium in Bengerdan, Tunisia on Wednesday, 20th March, National Daily gathered.

An official of the Libya Football Federation told thenff.com on Tuesday that the Bengerdan Stadium has an artificial turf and that the match will start at 3pm Tunisia time.

The delegation of Nigeria’s U23 squad will land at the Djerba International Airport, which is 20 minutes’ drive to the town of Bengerdan.

Libya is still unable to play international matches at home due to the after-effects of the Arab Spring political turmoil that began in 2011.

When the country’s senior team, Mediterranean Knights hosted the Super Eagles in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in October 2018, the match was staged in Sfax, Tunisia.

Nigeria is the only African country to have won gold, silver and bronze medals of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament. Gold was the harvest at the Centennial Games in Atlanta, USA, and silver came in Beijing, China in 2008. The bronze medal won by the Olympic Eagles at the Games in Brazil in 2016 was the only medal won by the entire Team Nigeria at the fiesta, National Daily learnt.

The Olympic Eagles are also the defending champions of the Africa U23 Cup of Nations.

Africa’s flag-bearers in the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament of Tokyo 2020 will emerge during the 3rd Africa U23 Cup of Nations to hold in Egypt in November this year.