By: Olamide Awoyinfa
Nigeria has secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Paris Olympics, where they will face the United States. This comes after Nigeria finished third in their group, which included France, Australia, and Canada.
Nigeria ended the group stage with two wins and one loss, as did France and Australia. Canada, on the other hand, failed to secure a win, automatically eliminating them from the tiebreaker process.
According to the rules, a tiebreaker was required to separate the three teams with identical records. Goal difference was used to determine the standings, with the matches played between Nigeria, France, and Australia being taken into account.
Unfortunately for Nigeria, they finished with a lesser goal difference than their opponents, resulting in a third-place finish in the group. However, this meant that they would have to face the top teams in the next round, rather than getting a more favorable draw.
Belgium, who finished in the same group as the USA, was unable to face them again in the quarterfinals. As a result, Nigeria took their place and will now face the USA, while Belgium will face Spain.
The quarterfinal match between Nigeria and the USA will be played on Wednesday August 7th at 8:30 pm ( Nigerian Time).
With their quarterfinal berth, the Nigerian women's basketball team, D'Tigress, has etched their name in history as the first African team to reach this stage in either the men's or women's tournament. This groundbreaking achievement shatters a long-standing barrier, as African teams had previously secured only a single win in 37 Women's tournament games.
Whatever the future holds, D'Tigress has already made their mark.
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