No room for mistakes against Germany, Dosu tells Dream Team

Former Super Eagles Goalkeeper, Joseph Dosu, has said that the match against German today is crucial and a must win if Nigeria is to nurse any hope of a medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The Coach Samson Siasia-tutored team will meet Germany today in Corinthians Stadium, Sao Paulo, in one of the semifinal games. To qualify for this stage, Germany dispatched Portugal 4-0, while Nigeria defeated Denmark 2-0.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Dosu said the encounter is a crucial one, warning the team not to be complacent. He said the game must be handled with caution.

“It is a crucial game that the U-23 Eagles have to win, but with caution. This game must be handled with fewer mistakes and with a high level of concentration right from the first minute till the final whistle.

“Nigerians are assiduously looking forward to this game because it will put us in a medal zone. At lest a victory over the Germans may guarantee us a medal at this Olympics. But before then, the U-23 Eagles must take their chances whenever they come. The players cannot afford to let us down this time around and their concentration must be 100 per cent.”

Speaking further, Dosu, who was part of the Dream Team that won gold at Atlanta ’96 football event, said: “Football is not a 100m, table tennis or lawn tennis individual event, but a team event. Football is a team event, you cannot pick a player that has done well. But I can tell you that all the players have done well as team; starting from the goalkeeper to the player on the bench.

“Even the coaches too have done very well with good substitutions and this has shown that they too are ambitious. In the matches played so far, the players have indicated hunger for success. They want to write their names in gold, not in silver or bronze. The players have definitely shown their capability and willingness to achieve glory on the field of play even when money was not made available to them. They want to achieve something for their fatherland. My prayer is that they win regardless of the score of the match,” he said.