The reason behind the decision of the head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle to leave out Maduka Okoye from the list of Super Eagles players for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations ( AFCON) has been made known to OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Okoye was prime to challenge first choice goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali for the number 1 spot, but he was surprisingly missing from the final list of 28 players made public by the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF).
Reacting to the decision, a member of the backroom staff of Chelle said Okoye was left out after he made it clear that if he is not going to be the first choice then he won’t be available for tournament, like we exclusively revealed yesterday.
His club Udinese also wrote to the NFF saying if he isn’t going to be the first choice, then they can’t risk him leaving them for three weeks to sit on the Super Eagles bench.
Chelle refused to give him that assurance insisting that every player must fight for a spot in the team. It was at that instance that he decided to step Francis Uzoho who was on standby, while they wait for the medical report of Nwabali who has been passed fit.
For Terem Moffi our source said he isn’t prepared for the tournament, with his mental state badly affected by the incident which saw fans of his club attacked him at their training ground in France. Chelle felt he needed time to sort his future in the January transfer window after making it clear that he doesn’t want to play for the club again.
In the case of Tolu Arokodare, his lack of game time aside Chelle felt he hasn’t really stepped up from the performance he had against Rwanda in Uyo and also the Unity Cup in England before then.
The coach feels Paul Onuachu will be a better option with his experience and recent run in front of goal for Trabzonspor in Turkey, where he is currently the top scorer.
His case is similar to that of Uche Chrisantus who didn’t impress the coach when he played against South Africa in the world cup qualifiers. He is also struggling to settle down at English Premier League side Crystal Palace.
