We wanted to avoid Senegal in the semi-finals – Siasia

Head coach of Nigeria’s U-23 team, Samson Siasia, has admitted that he wanted to avoid hosts Senegal, in the last four of the 2015 African U-23 Championship.

The Dream Team VI will face the Junior Terrenga Lions on Wednesday, for a place in the final of the tournament.

Siasia said his team were very close to clinching a ticket to the 2016 Olympics, but warned that it will be difficult to defeat the hosts at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium.

“The most important was to qualify and we have achieved it,” Siasia told CAF website.

“We wish we could garner the three points but I’m happy with qualifying and getting closer to Rio de Janeiro.

“I would have preferred to play Senegal in the final but I have to do at the semis. It will be a great match because they will have the public behind them and we have to play and win.

“At the Africa Cup of Nations in 1992, I scored here [Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium], and this is why most Senegalese remember me. I will be around my players to repeat it [on Wednesday].”

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