The U23 men’s side will play their first two matches in the Amazonas capital before moving to Sao Paulo for their final group game
The Nigeria U23 football team has been handed a tough schedule at the 2016 Olympic Games where they will play their first two group matches in Manaus, the far-flung capital of the Amazonas State.
The Dream Team is drawn in Group B alongside Sweden, Colombia and Japan.
They will take on Japan in their first game on August 4 at the 41,000-seater Arena da Amazonia. Sweden and Colombia will play the group’s first game.
Three days later on August 7, Samson Siasia’s team will take on Sweden at the same venue while Colombia and Japan will play later in the day.
Nigeria will then travel 3,875km to Sao Paulo (that’s twice the distance between Lagos and Maiduguri) for their last group game against Colombia at the Arena Corinthians on Wednesday August 10 while Sweden and Japan will travel 2605km to Salvador for their final game.
The streets of Manaus: Getty Images
The Rio Negro at sunset: JackPiranha
Manaus, the only host city in northern Brazil, is situated at the confluence between the Negro and Solimoes rivers. And it is five hours behind Nigeria, meaning that matches will take place very late in the night or early morning next day.
It was one of the host cities of the 2014 World Cup, and amid complaints of the heat played host to matches between England and Italy, Cameroon and Croatia, USA and Portugal and Honduras and Switzerland.
With temperatures rising to 37 degrees, Manaus was the scene of the first official World Cup water break in the game between Portugal and the USA on June 22, 2014.
For journalists and Nigeria fans hoping to travel to the games, it will take four hours by domestic flights from Rio de Janeiro or almost 56 hours of road travel.
Nigeria’s match schedule below:
August 4
Nigeria vs Japan
Venue: Arena da Amazonia, Manaus
21:00 (2am Nigerian West African Time WAT, August 5)
August 7
Sweden vs Nigeria
Venue: Arena da Amazonia, Manaus
18:00 (11pm Nigerian WAT, August 7)
August 10
Colombia vs Nigeria
Venue: Arena Corinthians, Sao Paulo
19:00 (11pm Nigeria WAT, August 10)
0 Comment to "Nigeria handed punishing Olympic football travel schedule in Manaus"
Post a Comment