Germany winger Serge Gnabry (#17) shoots the ball against Portugal goalkeeper Varela Bruno. (Photo : Getty Images)
Surprise team Nigeria will try to go all the way to the final of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics men's football tournament, but the team has to survive their semifinals match against gold medal favorites Germany on August 17, Wednesday at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo.
Nigeria was not expected to come out of the group stage by pre-Olympics predictions after they were included in a tough Group B bracket with strong teams Colombia, Japan, and Sweden.
However, head coach Samson Siasia's squad proved the odds wrong by earning the top spot of the group after pulling off a 5-4 win over Japan in the opening round then nipping Sweden, 1-0, in the second.
The team then rested their key players after they qualified to the quarters as they were blanked by Colombia, 0-2, in the third round.
The Dream team faced European giants Denmark in the last eight and was able to pull off a stunning 2-0 victory at the Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador last Saturday, as per SB Nation.
Chelsea attacking midfielder John Obi Mikel netted the opening goal for the reigning Africa U-23 Cup of Nations champions at the 15th minute of the match before teammate Aminu Umar doubled the lead one minute before the hour mark.
Meanwhile, Germany continued to display their readiness to capture the gold medal in this summer's Games as they crushed tough team Portugal, 4-0, in their own quarterfinals meeting at the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasília also last Saturday, Vavel reported.
Four different players from head coach Horst Hrubesch's side contributed a goal each in the match, namely Serge Gnabry, Matthias Ginter, Davie Selke, and Philipp Max during the first half injury time and at the 57th, 75th, and 87th minutes respectively.
It was the sixth goal of the tournament for Gnabry, a winger for English Premier League side Arsenal, as he became the top goalscorer of the tournament, overtaking his teammate Nils Petersen with five goals.
The predicted result is a 3-1 romp for Germany.
Nigeria starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Daniel; Shehu, Troost-Ekong, Sincere, Amuzie; Okechukwu, Usman; Ezekiel, Obi Mikel, A. Umar; S. Umar
Germany starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Horn; Toljan, Ginter, Sule, Klostermann; S. Bender, L. Bender; Brandt, Meyer, Gnabry; Selke
