A decision on who will start in goal for Nigeria against Algeria in tomorrow’s friendly game is yet to be made by the technical crew of the team according to coach of the team Gernot Rohr.
The coach said he is presently mulling over three goalkeepers in Maduka Okoye , Dele Alampasu and Matthew Yakubu despite the fact that he has four goalkeepers in the team.
He ruled out Austrian based goalkeeper Tobias Okiki Lawal as the LASK shot stopper is yet to get his Nigerian passport due to administrative issues as he currently holds an Austrian passport.
Rohr said the 20 year old has to renounce his Austrian citizenship if he is to be issued a Nigerian passport, except he is granted a special waiver which isn’t in the power of the national team of Nigeria but his country of birth.
“ Lawal can’t play because he has passport issues but we have three goalkeepers in the team who are doing very well in training so I will decide”, Rohr said during an interactive session with the media ahead of tomorrow’s game.
“ I will make the list tomorrow morning so I can’t tell you who will start because it will not be nice for the person to see it first from the press. So after I tell him them I will let you know.
“ We have Maduka who did very well in the game against Brazil. Now he is in Holland playing for Sparta Rotterdam but he isn’t getting games then we have Alampasu who has played in half of the games for his team this season in Europa League and in the league.
“ Yakubu has played in all of the games in Slovakia but he is new to the team. So we will see tomorrow when we decide. Already we have a name who will likely start in goal”.
