Nigeria’s U-23 team, Dream Team V1 were defeated by Denmark 6-2 in the ongoing four-nation Invitational Tournament in Suwon, South Korea on Saturday.
The Siasia-tutored team lost their second game of the tournament, which finally dashed their hope of winning the trophy. Erhun Obanor scored an own goal 26 minutes into the match to give Denmark early lead in the game.
Emil Larsen scored a hat-trick in the 34th, 38th and54th minutes respectively, while Patrick Da Silva made it 6-0 for the Danish side. Nigeria later pulled two goals back through Abdulrahman Taiwo in the85th and 88th minutes, as the game ended 6-2 in favour of Denmark.
Nigeria goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel saved the team from conceding a goal via penalty when Obanor handled the ball in the box. Striker Awoniyi also missed several begging chances in the game, but the opponent made no mistake in converting their chances in quick succession, scoring three goals before half-time.
Siasia was forced to make three changes at a time, as Tiongoli Tonbara came in for Julius Emiloju, Yusuf Mohammed replaced Daniel and Awoniyi for Ubong Ekpai in the 73rd minute. The players made little or no impact as the game ended in massive defeat for the team.
The team’s next game against Honduras is a mere formality as they are no longer in contention for the Suwon tournament trophy, but it serves as another good preparation for the team ahead of the Rio 2016 games which kicks-off in August.
