Olympic: ‘We had to wear girls’ kits’ — Odemwingie recalls Nigeria’s 2008 ordeal

Former Super Eagles forward Peter Odemwingie has recalled how Nigeria’s men’s Olympic football team was forced to improvise with kits during the 2008 Beijing Games after officials reportedly underestimated the team’s chances of progressing in the tournament.

Odemwingie made this known while speaking with Super Falcons captain Rasheedat Ajibade on the latest episode of the R4C Podcast.

“They sent our kits away; we had the drama in China. We had to wear the girls’ kits for the second round and the rest of the games in Beijing with SiaSia,” Odemwingie said.

“They felt we were never going to get far; they sent the kits back home for a giveaway or whatever. Then suddenly we made it out of the group.

“The American team were laughing at us, saying, ‘You guys wear the same clothes all the time.’”

Odemwingie said the team eventually had to rely on the kits left behind by the Super Falcons, who had been eliminated from the tournament.

“The Falcons didn’t make it to the next stage, so they left their kits. It was the same manufacturer, so they had to give us one extra T-shirt because we couldn’t wash them and they were dry on time for the next travel to look as a team together,” he recalled.

“Some of us had to buy plain white T-shirts so we don’t look completely different.”

Rather than making an early exit, the team topped group B after drawing 0-0 with the Netherlands before beating Japan 2-1 and the United States 2-1. Nigeria finished the group stage unbeaten with seven points.

Odemwingie scored the opening goal as Nigeria defeated Côte d’Ivoire 2-0 in the quarter-final. The team then produced one of its most impressive results of the tournament, beating Belgium 4-1 in the semi-final.

Nigeria’s run eve ended in the final against Argentina. with Ángel Di María scoring the only goal as Argentina won 1-0 to claim the gold medal.