The former first choice goalkeeper of the senior national team of Nigeria Maduka Okoye has declared his readiness to return to the team as first reported by OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Okoye has established himself as the undisputed first choice of Italian Serie A side Udinese and recently made the team of the week for his performance against Juventus two weeks ago. It was his third clean sheet of the season in nine games.
Okoye who declined an invitation to be part of the Super Eagles squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire owing to the cyber insults and threats he received after the team crashed out of the 2021 tournament losing 0-1 to Tunisia. He was largely blamed for the goal that led to the defeat.
At the recently concluded AFCON, Stanley Nwabali displaced Francis Uzoho to become the new number one of the team, and Okoye has now declared his readiness to fight for the spot saying it was hurting watching the tournament from his house.
“I’m very well now. I feel 100%. The national team is an important thing for me and I want to return as soon as possible. It was hard watching the Africa Cup of Nations from home, but this is football”, he told the official website of Udinese.
Ade Emmanuel
