Nigeria's Men's Olympic football team, Dream Team VI finally departed for Manaus from Atlanta on Thursday after multiple delays that left the team stranded in the United States.
Samson Siasia's side face Japan in the opening game of the football event of the Games and will arrive in Brazil with just hours to spare before the clash against the Samurai Blues.
Tweets from the team's media officer showed the team pass through immigration at the airport where he claimed they were harangued by Japanese reporters.
Nigeria's Men's Olympic football team, Dream Team VI finally departed for Manaus from Atlanta on Thursday after multiple delays that left the team stranded in the United States.
Samson Siasia's side face Japan in the opening game of the football event of the Games and will arrive in Brazil with just hours to spare before the clash against the Samurai Blues.
Tweets from the team's media officer showed the team pass through immigration at the airport where he claimed they were harangued by Japanese reporters.
The team were initially scheduled to leave for Manaus on Tuesday but a logistical mix-up over the payment for the charter flight meant the airline refused to airlift the Olympic footballers to Brazil.
An alternative arrangement was reached for the players to leave on Wednesday, however, player complaints about the size of the aircraft then disrupted their travel plans.
The issue was finally resolved when the Federal Government of Nigeria intervened by hiring a Delta Airlines All-VIP jet to take the players and crew on their seven-hour flight to the Amazon city of Manaus.
The delay means the Dream Team will arrive in Brazil with barely four hours until they kick-off their campaign against Asian U-23 champions Japan as they hope to emulate the Kanu Nwankwo-led side that won gold at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.
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Nigeria, giants of Africa indeed...
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