Nigeria Squad Atlanta 1996 Olympic, Lineups And Results

Undoubtedly, the Nigeria squad for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic football competition remains one of the very best teams the country has ever produced. Some Super Eagles squads in recent times are not even as good as this age-grade team.

The ‘Dream Team’ – as they were nicknamed back then – brought suspense to the 1996 Olympic, coming twice from behind to defeat Brazil with a 4-3 scoreline in the dying seconds of the semi-final after trailing 3-1 and beating Argentina 3-2 in the final. An Albiceleste side that boast the likes of Ariel Ortega, Claudio Lopez and Hernan Crespo.

Let me give you a glimpse of the 1996 Brazil Olympic soccer team:

(GK) Dida, (DF) Zé María, (DF) Aldair, (DF) Ronaldo Guiaro, (MF) Flávio Conceição, (DF) Roberto Carlos, (FW) Bebeto, (MF) Amaral, (MF) Juninho, (MF) Rivaldo, (FW) Sávio, (GK) Danrlei, (DF) Narciso, (MF) André Luiz, (MF) Zé Elias, (MF) Marcelinho, (FW) Luizão, (FW) Ronaldo

That’s the Brazil squad in 1996.

The Nigeria Olympic football team 1996 coach was Dutchman Johannes Bonfrere and he was assisted by Musa Abdulahi.

FIFA and International Olympic Committee (IOC) have a rule (which began in 1992) of allowing a maximum of three over aged players (above 23) in the tournament.

Jo Bonfrere included two overaged players from the Super Eagles to provide depth and experience, i.e. Uche Okechukwu (28) and Emmanuel Amuneke (25).

Also, there was this FIFA rule regarding Olympic soccer games that go into extra time, it allowed for the first team to score a goal in extra time (known as “Golden Goal”), to be declared winner.

In just about four minutes into extra time, Nwankwo Kanu won Nigeria vs Brazil 1996 semifinal for his side via the Golden Goal rule. The rest is history.

Nigeria was grouped alongside Brazil, Hungary and Japan during the first round.

Let’s now see what the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Nigeria squad look like.

SEE ALSO | The 23-Man Super Eagles Squad Rohr Named For AFCON 2019

Atlanta 96 Nigeria Squad

Position	Shirt No.	Player	Country	Club	DOB
Goalkeeper	1	Emmanuel Babayaro	Nigeria	Plateau United	1976-12-26
	19	Abiodun Baruwa	Nigeria	Shooting Stars FC	1974-11-16
	18	Joseph Dosu	Italy	AC Reggiana	1973-06-19
Defender
	2	Celestine Babayaro	Belgium	RSC Anderlecht	1978-08-29
	21	Patrick Ndah			1973-11-20
	16	King Obie			1974-11-12
	5	Uche Okechukwu	Turkey	Fenerbahçe	1967-09-27
	17	Mobi Oparaku	Belgium	KFC Turnhout	1976-12-01
	3	Taribo West	France	AJ Auxerre	1974-03-26
Midfielder
	9	Teslim Fatusi	Switzerland	Servette Genève	1977-09-17
	13	Garba Lawal	Tunisia	Espérance de Tunis	1974-05-22
	12	Abiodun Obafemi	Germany	Fortuna Düsseldorf	1973-12-25
	10	Jay Jay Okocha	Turkey	Fenerbahçe	1973-08-14
	15	Sunday Oliseh	Germany	1. FC Köln	1974-09-14
	8	Wilson Oruma	France	AS Nancy	1976-12-30
Forward
	22	Jonathan Akpoborie	Germany	Hansa Rostock	1968-10-20
	14	Daniel Amokachi	Turkey	Beşiktaş	1972-12-30
	6	Emmanuel Amunike	Portugal	Sporting CP	1970-12-25
	7	Tijjani Babangida	Netherlands	AFC Ajax	1973-09-25
	11	Victor Ikpeba	France	AS Monaco	1973-06-12
	4	Nwankwo Kanu	Italy	Inter	1976-08-01
	20	Pascal Onya	Nigeria	Shooting Stars FC	1974-12-24
Manager
		Jo Bonfrere			1946-06-15

This post was first published on GoalBall.