By Durosimi Thomas BBC Sport, Tunis

Nigeria fared badly at Sydney 2000

Nigeria have been handed a tough route to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens following the draw for the qualifying groups made on Friday.

The 16 African teams left in the Olympic qualifiers were drawn into four groups in Tunis, where the draw also takes place on Saturday for next year's Nations Cup finals.

The 1996 Olympic champions were put in Group A alongside Egypt, Senegal and Tunisia.

The Flying Eagles, who won Africa's first ever football gold medal in Atlanta, USA, start their campaign for Athens 2004 away in Cairo on 24 October.

Reigning Olympic champions Cameroon head Group B, where they should have a much easier task against the DR Congo, the Ivory Coast and Mali.

Morocco were all smiles after they were named Group C's top seeds. Their opponents are Angola, Ethiopia and Uganda.

South Africa head Group D where they will renew their rivalry with Ghana, who they edged out in the race for a place at the last Olympic football tournament in Australia.

The other two teams in the group are Algeria and Zambia.

Only the winners of the four groups will qualify for Athens, where Africa now has four guaranteed places after winning the last two tournaments.

The qualifiers start on the weekend of 24-26 October and run through until March next year.

Group A:
Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia

Group B:
DR Congo, Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast

Group C:
Angola, Ethiopia, Morocco, Uganda