Though he is only making first appearance at the
Olympics, Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi has been named Captain
of Team Nigeria to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio beginning August 5,
2016.
Obi, one of the three over-aged players invited to the national U-23 football team for the games is making his first appearance at an Olympic Games.
Table tennis star Funke Oshonaike is the assistant team captain. This
will be Oshonaike’s sixth appearance at the Olympics after she debuted
at Atlanta ’96.
The Dream Team VI is expected to depart for Rio from Atlanta USA on 29th July 2016.
Other athletes hopefully, will leave Nigeria on the same day.
Mikel Obi and Funke Oshonaike were chosen because of their consistency, patriotism and dedication to national assignments.
“Mikel is a young, patriotic footballer of international status and
we believe he will be a role model to the upcoming athletes while Funke
Oshonaike is experienced and is one of the oldest athletes in the team.
“We believe that their combined efforts will bring goodwill to Team Nigeria and project the county’s image positively to the world,” a part
of the press statement from the Sports Minister’s Special Adviser on
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