Cameroon won the Olympic gold for football at Sydney 2000

1996 champions Nigeria travel to Senegal this weekend in the highlight of the third round of Africa's Olympic Games qualifying programme.

Both countries are level on four points at the top of Group A and a win in Dakar for either side would have a significant bearing on which team wins the group and qualifies for Athens 2004.

Nigeria coach going for gold

Nigeria won 2-0 in Egypt in their first qualifying match but then drew 1-1 at home to Tunisia, a result that dented Nigeria coach Musa Abdullahi's boast that his side would win gold in Greece.

Senegal, who also defeated the Egyptians 2-0 as well as drew with Tunisia, are hoping that Daniel Bocande, the son of Senegalese legend Jules Bocande, can have the same goalscoring impact as his father did for the nation during the 1980's.

Meanwhile, Tunisia visit struggling Egypt knowing three points would keep them in contention and make them relish their home tie against the Baby Pharaohs in February.

In Group B, reigning Olympic champions Cameroon, who followed Nigeria to the victors' podium after victory over Spain at Sydney 2000, are the only team among the sixteen contenders with maximum points.

A 4-1 triumph in the Democratic Republic of Congo was followed by an equally impressive 2-0 win over Mali in Yaounde, and another success against the Ivory Coast in Abidjan would take them six points clear of their third-placed opponents.

In Kinshasa, DR Congo will be looking for their first victory in the qualifying series as they host Mali.

Groups C and D

Another team seeking their first points are Uganda who host Group C leaders Morocco in Kampala.

The Moroccans are currently edging out Angola, who play Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, on goal difference, having thrashed the Ethiopians 4-0 and played out a goalless draw in the Angolan capital Luanda.

In Group D, Ghana lead by a point from South Africa and Algeria who have both amassed three points from their opening two games.

The Ghanaians travel to Blida this weekend where the home team will aim to leapfrog their rivals at the top of the table.

Meanwhile, South Africa face Zambia in Potchefstroom where they will be looking to take advantage of the weariness of their cash-strapped opponents who have been forced to travel to the game by bus.

The home side can take further encouragement from the fact that the Zambian squad is also lacking several suspended stars.