Nigeria face their toughest test to date, an appointment with a German side that appears to be peaking at just the right time. What can Samson Siasia and his lads expect?
Incongruously for a country of their standing and stature in football, Germany are yet to post a gold medal finish at the football event of the Olympic Games. Their best two performances were bronze medal outings - in 1964 and 1988 - and, perplexingly, this is their first participation at the Games since Seoul. There, a certain Jurgen Klinsmann scored four times to lead the Germans to third place.
Yet, Germany are four-time champions at senior international level, as well as current World Cup holders.
There would admittedly be no better time to get off the mark at U-23 level, and German football is flush in the middle of a great boom, with talent running over.
In spite of a slew of withdrawals due to club commitments (only four players from the side that qualified from last year’s U-21 Euros are present here in Rio), the European side still boasts some impressive talent in the likes of Julian Brandt and Max Meyer, as well as tournament top scorer Serge Gnabry.


•Julian Brandt
They will provide Nigeria’s stiffest test to date in Brazil. On the face of it, this is a game that has the potential to go bonkers.
Germany boast the most prolific attack in the competition, although it helped that the charitable Fiji were a part of their group; still, you can only beat what’s in front of you. On the other hand, only two teams - Fiji and Japan - conceded more goals in the group stage than Nigeria’s six.
Samson Siasia’s side were noticeably tighter in their 2-0 defeat of Denmark, but this is an altogether different sort of threat.
Whereas the Scadinavians displayed little invention in open play, and were shockingly disorganized for much of the game, Germany’s root-and-branch approach to football development means the same team ethos and discipline that trademarks its senior side trickles down to the age groups.
So, you can expect pressing, efficiency in possession and great positional play.


•Serge Gnabry
Horst Hrubesch’s side line up in a 4-2-3-1, with the Bender twins protecting the back four and captain Max Meyer just ahead.
Possessing the excellence of Brandt and Gnabry on the flanks, they work to create overloads in wide areas in order to take advantage of their prowess in 1v1 situations, and also like to hit the byline before cutting the ball back, rather than cross from deep.
The marginal benefit of this is it forces the opposing defence to turn quickly, putting them on the back foot immediately, and Nigeria have proved worryingly susceptible to this strategy in previous games. They would do well to make a note of it.


•The Benders Brothers
With Lars and Sven Bender patrolling the central area, there is little vulnerability through the middle in this German side.
Instead, they can be got at on the flanks too.
Full-backs Jeremy Toljan and Lukas Klostermann are not the strongest defensively, and with the amount of creative license afforded the wingers high up, they can be exposed quickly in transition.
Leaving Imoh Ezekiel high up against the full-backs and hitting him early on turnovers seems like a worthwhile strategy here. His pace, movement and strength is just the sort of avenue by which Nigeria can prosper, considering as well how high up the pitch Germany’s defence is often stationed.


•Max Meyer
Also worth noting is the strength and height of defenders Niklas Sule and Matthias Ginter on set-pieces. The Borussia Dortmund man already served notice with the equaliser against Mexico in the opening game, and Siasia’s men would do well to stay alert on free-kicks and corners, as well as getting their marking scheme perfectly: it is a worry just how much trouble Denmark caused through this medium.
Victory for Nigeria will probably boil down to how clever Sadiq Umar can be with his movement here. He gets caught offside rather infuriatingly sometimes, but if he can pull into wide areas and combine with Ezekiel and Aminu Umar (or Oghenekaro Etebo, if passed fit), the African champions could find joy going forward on the break.