Nigeria vs Germany - RIO 2016 Olympic Men's Football Semi Final

As Nigeria and Germany do battle for a place in the Olympics final there will likely be plenty of interest in London as Chelsea and Arsenal players with a point to prove back home do battle in Sao Paulo.

Nigeria captain Mikel John Obi may be committed to Chelsea but he will doubtless face a hefty challenge establishing himself under Antonio Conte with the likes of N’Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic ahead of him in the pecking order.

But Mikel has his eyes on the top prize twenty years on from the anniversary of his nation’s heroics in Atlanta. He told Standard Sport last month: “Watching Nigeria beat Brazil in the semi-final and then Argentina in the final really inspired me.



“I was just kicking a football around for fun back then in the streets. But after seeing Nigeria win the gold medal, I changed.”

To fulfil his ambition of gold he’ll have to find his way past the star player of the men’s tournament so far, Serge Gnabry. The Arsenal winger has found the net in each of his four matches so far on the way to a tally of six goals. 



With Arsene Wenger’s forward options already depleted after just one game Gnabry will believe he can go from forgotten man to key player if he can bring his Olympic form to the Premier League.

Date, time and venue

Nigeria take on Germany at the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo on Wednesday August 17. Kick-off is at 20:00 BST. (8.00pm Nigeria Time)