RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Nigeria's sports minister says he has apologized to players for the travel mix-up that resulted in the men's soccer team arriving at the Olympics just hours before their first game.
The squad was delayed last week in Atlanta. Officials said it was because they tried to buy plane tickets to Rio de Janeiro at the last minute and then found a charter plane was too small to carry the entire delegation.
Despite those issues, Nigeria was the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals in Rio. It beat Japan 5-4 on Thursday, landing about six hours before the game, and then won 1-0 over Sweden on Sunday.