It’s no secret that the senior national team of Nigeria is currently having issues in the area of goalkeepers with the erratic nature of the two top choices Francis Uzoho and Maduka Okoye.
New coach Jose Peseiro also appears not to have faith in Adebayo Adeleye, the only goalkeeper who is a regular this season in Europe. He has been ever present for Hapoel Katamon.
Peseiro will no doubt which to grow his pool and that is where the need for some young Nigerian shot stopper comes into play. OwnGoalNigeria.com senior editor Mohammed Yusuf Suleiman popularly known as Mowiz draws up a list of five young Nigerian goalkeepers earning rave reviews in Europe.
Arthur Okonkwo – The 21 year old who is on loan to League Two side Crewe Alexandra from Arsenal has already represented England at several levels but he is open to a switch of allegiance if approached. He has five clean sheets in eleven games this season.
Mark Ugbo- His rise to the first team of Danish side FC Midtjylland has been remarkable. He did it all in six months and he has now cemented his spot as first choice of the reserve team. Yet to keep goal for the first team but he has been named on the bench in the UEFA champions League qualifiers as well as in the Europa League.
“He is a calm goalkeeper who, despite his young age, looks like someone who has been in goal all his life. He is an offensive-minded goalkeeper and he has many of the basic things we want to see from our keepers”, those were the words of FC Midtjylland goalkeepers coach Lasse Heinze while describing the 18 year old Nigerian.
Noah Atubolu – In Germany he is seen as a bigger talent than Maduka Okoye even though he is yet to keep goal in a top flight game. Such is his rating that he has already represented Germany from U16 to U21. This season at Freiburg he has excelled for the reserve team of the Bundesliga side in the third division.
He has kept four clean sheets in seven games. His determination to play for Nigeria is well documented as he met with erstwhile coach of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr in Germany two years ago.
Joshua Oluwayemi – He was called up to the squad of the senior national team of Nigeria for the friendly game against Mexico last year. This season he has shown in two straight games for Portsmouth that he has indeed come of age.
Firmly established as the second choice of the League one side, the former Spurs prospect has kept in two games in the EFL trophy this season. The last of which was the 5-0 thrashing of Aston Villa U23.
Owen Goodman – Still making his way up at Crystal Palace but already seen as the next big thing by coach of the main team Patrick Viera. Goodman who is a product of a scouting exercise in Nigeria is third choice at the club. A feat which is uncommon for an 18 year old. In the Premier League 2 he has two clean sheets in seven games.
Nigeria are however facing competition for his future with Canada also said to be monitoring his progress as well.
