Dream team VII striker, Orji Okwonkwo, is optimistic that the team will pick one of the three tickets to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Football Tournament as the 2019 Total CAF Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Egypt.
Nigeria will tackle the young Ivorian Elephants on Saturday at the Al Salam Stadium in Cairo.
Orji however warned that good start against the Ivorians could be the key to the team’s success at the tournament.
“Of course, we are ready, it is the desire of all the teams to win the tournament,”
“But we have to do everything possible to ensure that we get the ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
“We know this is not going to be an easy competition and the most important thing is that we have to work very hard,” explained Okwonkwo who was recently awarded Montreal Impact’s Most Valuable Player of the Year.
“Football is a game of luck but we can be lucky only if we work very hard.”
Nigeria is drawn in Group B and will also face Zambia on November 12 and South Africa on November 15 in other group matches.
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“We have to be very confident going into the competition and personally, I’m happy to have been selected by the coaches ,” the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup winner said. “I will do my best to ensure we get a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”