Coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria Gernot Rohr has explained his decision to introduce Maduka Okoye as replacement for Francis Uzoho who went off injured during the Super Eagles 1-1 friendly draw against Brazil.
Okoye was handed his senior national team bow by the Franco-German coach of the Nigerian team much to the surprise of many who were expecting the coach to introduce former first come goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa.
Defending his decision to hand Okoye the chance, Rohr said Ezenwa has been inactive for a while since the Nigeria Professional Football League ( NPFL) is yet to kickoff and that showed in training which made the crew to put their trust in Okoye.
“He ( Okoye) worked very hard in training and it’s normal to pick the player who is playing ahead of the one who is yet to play a game in a while. Ezenwa wasn’t in goal for the CHAN team and the league is yet to start in Nigeria. Okoye deserve to be given the chance and I think he didn’t do badly “, Rohr told Owngoalnigeria.com.
Yet to make his debut for the senior team of German Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf, the goalkeeper who is however the first choice of the U23 of his team is expected to push Ikechukwu Ezenwa for a starting spot in the upcoming AFCON 2020 qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho respectively with Uzoho out injured.
