#3 Atlanta 1996 – The Nigerian Triumph
Nigeria had to pull out of the African Cup of Nations that year due to political reasons in the country and they came into the tournament with relatively lower expectations. Being drawn with Brazil, Japan and Hungary only made it worse but, the unexpected was to happen.
They defeated Japan and Hungary by the score lines 1-0 and 2-0 respectively and finished second in the group behind Brazil on goal difference. The Nigerians comfortably overcame Mexico 2-0 in the quarter-final and they had to face Brazil in the semis who had already defeated them in the group stages. The match would probably be one of the most memorable in the competition’s history. Th
The Eagles came back from 3-1 down to win 4-3 in the extra time. Nwankwo Kanu scored the golden goal that day and Brazil who were the favourites crashed out of the tournament.
Nigeria defeated Argentina 3-2 in the final which was another exhilarating game of football and they became the first African nation to win the Olympic gold medal and that meant the world to the entire nation.
