Is German-Born Okoye the Best Solution To Super Eagles Goalkeeper Problem?
Published: April 14, 2019
Super Eagles goalkeeping department remains the only position giving Nigerians sleepless night ahead of the 2019 AFCON, no thanks to some costly errors from Francis Uzoho.
Since Vincent Enyeama's retirement from international football and Carl Ikeme's untimely retirement due to his illness, the African giants are yet to reproduce a world-class goalkeeper.
Former FC Ifeanyi Uba star Ikechukwu Ezenwa was Rohr's first-choice goalkeeper but the 30-year-old was relegated to the bench before the 2018 FIFA World Cup as Uzoho was given the nod to become the first-choice goalie throughout the tournament.
Daniel Akpeyi was equally utilized against South Africa in the first match of the AFCON 2019 qualifiers but the South African-based netminder was far from impressive.
With some months to the start of the much-anticipated Africa Cup of Nation in Egypt, many Super Eagles fans are not satisfied with the quality of goalkeepers in the team, hence, they continue to call on Rohr to include German-born youngster Maduka Okoye in his squad to Egypt.
However, it remains unknown if the 19-year-old Fortuna Düsseldorf II netminder is the best solution to the goalkeeping crisis facing the country.
Okoye hasn't featured in any first-team match, meaning he doesn't have any experience to count on.
Though Okoye has qualities, his inexperience could go against him whenever he faces deadly strikers such as Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani.
Meanwhile, the AFCON tournament comes too soon for the youngster to break into the Super Eagles setup, he has little or no chance of making the squad to Egypt.
Nonetheless, he could be drafted into Paul Aigbogun's squad for the upcoming U20 World Cup Squad in Poland next month.
Since Vincent Enyeama's retirement from international football and Carl Ikeme's untimely retirement due to his illness, the African giants are yet to reproduce a world-class goalkeeper.
Former FC Ifeanyi Uba star Ikechukwu Ezenwa was Rohr's first-choice goalkeeper but the 30-year-old was relegated to the bench before the 2018 FIFA World Cup as Uzoho was given the nod to become the first-choice goalie throughout the tournament.
Daniel Akpeyi was equally utilized against South Africa in the first match of the AFCON 2019 qualifiers but the South African-based netminder was far from impressive.
With some months to the start of the much-anticipated Africa Cup of Nation in Egypt, many Super Eagles fans are not satisfied with the quality of goalkeepers in the team, hence, they continue to call on Rohr to include German-born youngster Maduka Okoye in his squad to Egypt.
However, it remains unknown if the 19-year-old Fortuna Düsseldorf II netminder is the best solution to the goalkeeping crisis facing the country.
Okoye hasn't featured in any first-team match, meaning he doesn't have any experience to count on.
Though Okoye has qualities, his inexperience could go against him whenever he faces deadly strikers such as Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani.
Meanwhile, the AFCON tournament comes too soon for the youngster to break into the Super Eagles setup, he has little or no chance of making the squad to Egypt.
Nonetheless, he could be drafted into Paul Aigbogun's squad for the upcoming U20 World Cup Squad in Poland next month.
Ibukun Italoye
Photo Credit : instagram.com/madukaokoye
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