As Nigeria confront Honduras in the Rio Olympics bronze medal match today in Belo Horizonte, Coach Samson Siasia has said his team would not return to their country without the bronze medal.

“We still have something to play for,” Siasia said. “We didn’t deserve to win against Germany with the way we played, so we should just forget about it and look forward to the next one and at least we will try to have the bronze medal going back home.

“You’re better off having a bronze medal than not having anything at all. That’s the only way we can motivate them and it’s going to be very, very tough. They wanted to go to Rio but you need to earn it to go there.”

Honduras will present a different challenge than Germany from a tactical perspective, but make no mistake, Los Catrachos will be hungry to respond positively after a disappointing outing in Rio de Janeiro against Brazil.

“We need to play [against them] the same way we’ve been playing,” Siasia said. “There were too many mistakes and against a German side like we came up against, if you don’t utilise your chances, it becomes a problem and that’s what actually happened. It was a learning experience. We’re all learning every day.”

Nigeria started Rio 2016 full of energy and promise with a thrilling 5-4 win over Japan and then a 1-0 victory against Sweden. They fell 2-0 to Colombia in their final group stage match but they were already guaranteed a first-place finish before that game. In their quarter-final against Denmark, Nigeria looked comfortable and shored up their defence to win 2-0 before coming up against Germany.

“We’ve been very great. The mentality has been right. What did we want? We wanted the gold medal and that’s what we were shooting for. They came out without reservation and went all the way and tried to see if they could get it.

“Everything in life is a learning process. If you find yourself at a stage like this again, you want to do better. It’s all about the bronze now. You don’t want to go home without anything.”

“There were too many mistakes and against a German side like we came up against, if you don’t utilise your chances, it becomes a problem and that’s what actually happened. It was a learning experience. We’re all learning every day.”

alberto2k:
Okay atleast United state of Nigeria will have one medal to brag about unlike Ghana way just go do cultural dance

taylor88:
siasia 4 ur info naija dnt kia


learn from Keshi

KingEbukasBlog:
Its Honduras , anything less than bronze for Nigeria will not be accepted .

I prognosticate a 4-0 win for Nigeria , Mikel will be on the score sheet .

blueto:
That was condescending na. Remember they made it to the Semis just like Nigeria

KingEbukasBlog:


Luck ! Plus they were demolished 6-0 by Brazil in the semis . We are a good side so 4-0 to the tournament's dark horse isn't bad at all.

blueto:
LATEST UPDATE ON RIO OLYMPICS

AFRICAN COUNTRIES MEDAL TABLE SO FAR.....
SOUTH AFRICA : 3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze.
ETHIOPIA : 2 gold, 1 silver.
KENYA : 1 gold, 1 bronze.
EGYPT : 1 bronze.
TUNISIA : 1 silver.
NIGERIA : 1 copper, 2 wood and 3 rubber.
GHANA : 4 Aluminium, 2 zinc, 3 magnesium.
GAMBIA : 2 bags of sand, 3 bags of charcoal and 2 gallons of Palm oil

blueto:
Lalasticlala

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/siasia-wont-return-nigeria-without-bronze/

Muafrika2:

Correction;


Kenya: 5 gold 5 silver 0 Bronze

Muafrika2:

Correction;


Kenya: 5 gold 5 silver 0 Bronze

blueto:
That was just a comical post na .

Ednite:


Congrats!
You guys have made it!
You killed it while we sleep on it.
with just 1 gold 1 silver and 4 bronze that was neva recorded (very bad result)



I bet Ethiopian Athletics Federation hears me. But av neva felt as ashamed as this time. Our national anthem was only played once!

I beleive no medals will be recored by ET after now or only bronze. Thanks to our athletics, they tought me how to throw the little hope i have in them in trash.

Sorry for saying too many things. It is that am totally dissapointed but when i say congrats to my kenyan brothers and sisters, it is with admiration.

Muafrika2:
Thankyou

I was wondering what happened to Ethiopia. Am not seeing enough Ethiopian's winning this time round

KingEbukasBlog:


Kenya's rugby team had a disappointing outing in the Olympics ... why ? The second sport you guys are good at

Muafrika2:

I couldn't help it,

Muafrika2:

Total disaster. It's the same story with other African teams ... mistreatment, no allowances, etc. Then the government officials who have accompanied them (but outnumber them) are living like kings ... no moral support.

blueto:
But we did we did well in the most prestigious sport in Olympics, Football. And kenya failed woefully to qualify.

blueto:
But we did we did well in the most prestigious sport in Olympics, Football. And kenya failed woefully to qualify.

KingEbukasBlog:

Exactly !!

KingEbukasBlog:


Oh ... no honey . The Nigerian football team - a sport which we are good at - are on the verge of winning a bronze medal . But I agree with you though , poor preparations by the African teams .

But you guys will turn up during the marathon races though