Rio 2016: Nigeria U23 Must Be Cautious Against ‘Tough’ Group B opponents – Taribo

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Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games gold medallist Taribo West says the national U-23 team are in a group of death.

He spoke after the African champions were drawn alongside Colombia, Sweden and Japan in Group B of the men’s football event of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

The former AC Milan centre-back said all the teams had what it took to advance from the group and warned Samson Siasia’s side to be cautious of their opponents.

“That is a group of death,” Taribo stated. “These countries have very good youth teams, so it’s going to be a very challenging group. It reminds me of our group at the 2002 World Cup, where we were drawn with Argentina, England and Sweden.

“The Colombians have young lads and they play very good football; the Japanese have gone very far in terms of professionalism but I think if we can run better, and we are physically fit, we can manage them.”