As the senior national team of Nigeria continue their search for a goalkeeper to bring respite to what is one of the big issues in the team, it appears there is a chance of having one as an option.
Presently the duo of Maduka Okoye and Francis Uzoho hold the spot of the top two goalkeepers of the team, but their high profile errors which has proved costly especially this year has made the issue of getting more options in that department a priority.
One name that has jumped up that queue is Crystal Palace highly rated 18 year old goalkeeper Owen Goodman, who was among the substitutes when they defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 in the English Premier League on Tuesday.
Goodman was rewarded with a spot on the bench after impressing for the U21 in Premier League 2, where he has kept two clean sheets in eight games this season. He is seen as one of the best in his age grade at the club with coach Patrick Viera a huge fan of his abilities.
A story was written on his rise by the online version of popular Nigerian newspaper Leadership and his mother Abi Goodman took to her Instagram handle real_abigoodman to share a picture of the story with the headline ” 18-yr-old UK-based Prodigy, Goodman, May End Nigeria’s Goalkeeping Nightmare”.
The story was written by Patrick Ochoga and it got the approval of his mother even though her son is eligible to represent Nigeria, Canada and also England. Already Goodman has said he is open to represent all three countries depending on who gives him a call up first among the trio but hinted at Nigeria as his preferred choice.
“Whoever calls me first, I will honour the invite, I will be glad to play for my country (Nigeria) if I get the opportunity I will grab it,” he said. For now he has only represented England at U18 level.
