Posted by By Adekunle Salami, Beijing on
Under-23 team coach, Samson Siasia, has said that Nigeria is going for the gold medal in the men's football event of the ongoing 29th Olympiad.
The team beat Belgium 4-1 in their semifinal match on Tuesday to reach the final and will take on Argentina on Saturday. Argentina, propelled by Barcelona's Lionel Messi, humiliated Brazil 3-0 in the second semifinal game also on Tuesday.
Siasia said the team had achieved the expected balance that is needed to win the gold medal. The former Super Eagles striker said he was afraid of engaging Argentina in the final.
'We struggled in the first three games and eventually the team gelled in the quarterfinals and also in this game.
'I appreciate what the boys have done and this is absolutely wonderful for Nigeria. To get this far is not easy and we are going to work hard to win the gold medal.
'This is the same team that won silver at the Holland 2005 World Youth Championship for Nigeria and this time we are going for gold. We don't care who we are playing.'
On how the team was able to win the game easily, Siasia said that the team studied the tape of Belgium's previous games.
'We knew they had a key player in the middle and we put Sani Kaita on him and he did the job well, while we operated from the wings to open up the game and find our way to goal.
'The defenders have been wonderful. We had some differences when they were all not playing well but now they are more focused and determined to go all the way,' he said.