The U-23 National team will depart the shores of Nigeria via Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos today for the first leg of the second round AFCON U23 qualifiers against Tanzania.

The first leg of the qualifiers is scheduled to take place on Saturday 22nd October in Dar es Salaam with the return leg slated for a week later on 29th October at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan.

The Olympic Eagles under Samson Siasia won the U23 AFCON in 2015 in Senegal before going ahead to claim a bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games but the Dream Team VII under Imama Amapakabor failed to make it to the 2020 Olympics from the 2019 U23 AFCON in Egypt.

Meanwhile, an excited Augustine Eguavoen praised the coaching crew and expressed optimism that the team will soar past Tanzania on Saturday.

Eguavoen, who is Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation, paid a visit to the Olympic Eagles’ camp in Ibadan yesterday as the team intensified their build up ahead of the qualifiers.

The former Super Eagles’ captain and coach was received by the team’s Coordinator, Bashir Badawy at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan, as the team as going through series of training sessions under the supervision of Coach Salisu Yusuf and his lieutenants, Kennedy Boboye, Abubakar Bala and goalkeeper’s trainer, Suleiman Shuaibu.

The team had been involved in a series of friendly matches in Ibadan ahead of the game and shockingly lost 0-3 to VIA Academy, a Ibadan-based amatuer side, last week.