On 3rd August, 1996, Nigeria’s U-23 Eagles popularly known as the ‘Dream Team’, became the first African team to win a major football tournament.
Coached by Dutch tactical Johannes Bonfrere, the Dream Team edged Argentina 3-2 in the final of the football event at the Atlanta Olympic Games.
Today, August 3rd, 2023, makes it exactly 27 years when the Nigerian team made up of legends like skipper Nwankwo Kanu, Austin Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amuneke, Garba Lawal, Victor Ikpeba and Sunday Oliseh, shocked the football world.
Despite the fact that the feat happened over two decades ago, it still remains Nigeria’s biggest achievement in Football male or female and is still being celebrated.
Famous Nigerian sports journalist Dr. Mumini Alao was in Atlanta to cover the games of the Dream Team.
Dr. Alao repackaged the Dream Team feat, which has only been matched by Cameroon at Sydney 2000, into a book.
Titled “The Making of Nigeria’s Dream Team: Football Gold Medal Winners At Atlanta ‘96 Olympic Games”, this masterpiece of a book is an in-depth account of the exploits of Nigeria’s most successful football team.
The doctorate degree holder in Mass Communication,
detailed how the team was formed, their preparation and their being crowned Olympic champions.
Also, the book is packed with match reports, analysis, interviews with players, technical crew, officials and fans.
It is important to note that the book was officially presented on June 12, 2022, during the fourth edition of the Ballers Awards.
The book is available in Nigeria through JUMIA.com and RovingHeights Book Store and outside the country it can be gotten through Amazon.
By James Agberebi
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