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Dream Team VI, the Nigerian Under-23 football team in the Rio 2016 Olympics has finally left for Brazil, after they were reported stranded in Atlanta as Thursday morning.
The players are leaving less than 14 hours before their opening encounter with Japan.
A tweet by Atlanta Airport said Delta Airlines offered the team charter to Manaus, Brazil. It is however not understood if the chartered flight was part of the former arrangement or a completely new one to “save the day”.
The tweet with photos read:
The Eagles are flying to Brazil!
#Nigeria‘s#Olympic soccer team, thanks to@Delta , have a charter to the games.This year, another mixup.
@Delta stepped up, offered charter, and the Eagles are going to#Brazil. Another gold?
The Airport informed that “20 years ago, the Nigerian team in Atlanta 96, led by coach Bonfrere Jo and Nwankwo Kanu as captain, arrived late in Atlanta after a travel mixup and “they won gold”!
So, it seems the current challenge is a blessing in disguise as history might just repeat itself.
The U-23 team under the tutelage of Coach Samson Siasia and Mikel Obi as captain, will take on Japan at 2am Friday (Nigerian Time)