Mikel all smiles as Dream Team finally arrives Manaus

After what seemed like eternity — plus what may well have been a dig by Atlanta Airport — the Nigerian Under-23 team has finally landed in Manaus.

An official of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed the team’s arrival to TheCable at about 7:30pm Nigerian time, after days of delay in Atlanta, saying the players were “currently collecting their luggage”.

The federation late tweeted photos of the team’s arrival, showing John Obi Mikel, the captain, beaming with smiles.

Nigeria plays its first match of the tournament against Japan at 2am Nigerian time on Friday — approximately six hours after it landed in the city.

Sweden and Colombia are the other countries in the group.

Before the match, the players will still have to go through an accreditation process at their hotel.