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Nigeria soccer team set to arrive hours before opening match vs Japan

Related Topics: Nigeria, Japan

Advantage: Japan.

When Nigeria opens its men’s soccer tournament against the Japanese at 9 p.m. EDT Thursday, it will do so mere hours after some players arrived for the tournament.

MORE: Thursday daily preview

That’s because the players thought the plane was too small, a second delay in their trip to Rio.

Reports emerged Wednesday that a first plane was delayed because of problems in payment. The second plane, too tiny, according to the BBC:

“The players were uncomfortable with the size of the plane,” team media officer Timi Ebikagboro told BBC Sport.