All Africa Games Qualifier: Lagos May Host Liberia Tie

There are strong indications that Lagos State may host the second leg match of the 2011 All African Games qualifier between Nigeria’s Under-23 team, the Dream Team V and their Liberian counterparts.

The Nigerian team will head for Monrovia this weekend to play the first leg tie.

According to Olajire, no venue has been fixed for the second leg scheduled to take place on 30 April or 1 May, but it can  either hold in Benin-City or Lagos State.

He said: “We have already written to the Lagos State government to host the match and we are still waiting  for its response.”

According to SuperSport.com, the U-23 Eagles will prosecute this weekend game in Monrovia without their professional players.

Head coach of the Dream Team, Austin Eguavoen, had a long list of foreign-based players when Nigeria walloped Equatorial Guinea 5-0 in the first leg of the London 2012 Olympic qualifier, while only six travelled for the return leg that ended 4-1 in favour of the Nigerians due to the refusal of their clubs to release them.

There will be no rest for the lads. After the spectacular performance in Malabo, the Dream Team is    embarking on another trip to Monrovia to face the Liberians.

Goalkeeper Dele Ajiboye (Spain), Ibok Edet (Spain), Chima Uchechi (Leicester City), Michael Essang (Uruguay), Arinze Ikenna (Finland) and Rabiu Ibrahim (Netherlands) were the foreign-based players who travelled to Malabo.

“It’s obvious that only professionals who get the understanding of their clubs will wait and travel to Liberia,” Olajire said.