Football - Dream team to open tourney against Morocco. The Nigerian U-23 team will play Morocco in the opening match of the maiden U-23 African Championship. The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) confirmed that the match which kicks off the eight-nation tourney will be played at the Tangiers International Stadium on November 26. The Championship will be used as the final qualifying stage for the 2012 London Olympics' football events. The Dream Team V have a big pressure on their shoulder to qualify for the Olympics after all the other National football teams failed to qualify for next year's International events. Meanwhile, CAF has also changed the grouping of the teams to reflect the switch of hosts from Egypt to Morocco.

New hosts, Morocco move from Group B to A along with Nigeria, Algeria and Senegal, while former hosts Egypt as well as South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire and Gabon move from Group A to B.

The top three teams will qualify for the Olympics automatically, while the fourth will play an Asian team in a play-off tie for a possible fourth ticket.

Joshua Odeyemi

Daily Trust/01/11/2011