2016 Olympics: Supporters club helped Dream Team VI win bronze medal – Ladipo
- Admin
- Sep 2, 2016
- 2 min read
President General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, has claimed their support contributed to the country’s U-23 team winning their bronze medal at the just concluded Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil.
The Dream Team VI defeated Honduras 3-2 in the third-place play-off, to clinch Nigeria’s only medal at the competition.
Ladipo insists that it would not have been possible, if he and members of the Supporters Club did not travel to Brazil to cheer the team on.
“It is not good to overblow one’s trumpet, but at the same time, it is good for people to put the record straight so that Nigerians, who were not privileged to travel to Rio for the Olympic Games, will know the role we played in the bronze medal victory,” he said.
“It was a bronze medal, but we decided to call it a golden bronze because without it, perhaps, everything would have been upside down by now.
“When we discovered that Team Nigeria was not going to win any medal in Rio, we decided to embark on the journey to Brazil despite various challenges from several quarters. I went with 15 members from Nigeria to join our members who are based in Sao Paulo.
“We inaugurated the Sao Paulo branch of the Supporters Club before the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. On getting to Sao Paulo, we left immediately for Belo Horizonte, a journey of about nine hours, and we arrived in the morning of the day of the third place match. The Brazilians were very happy to see us, and they joined us in singing and dancing before, during and after the game. The coaches and the players were so excited when we started beating our drums, and it propelled them throughout the duration of the match.
“The point I am trying to make is that the supporters club always has a major role to play during major games, and we did it perfectly in Rio.”
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