A backroom staff of the senior national team of Nigeria says head coach Eric Chelle has moved on from Stanley Nwabali as his first choice goalkeeper owing to his clubless status at the moment, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nwabali left Chippa United after the AFCON via mutual consent and hasn’t been active since the shock decision. It is why he wasn’t picked in the team that prosecuted the team’s friendlies in the summer.
Chelle has now decided to prioritise Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye as his first choice going into the games of the qualifiers for the AFCON next year.
” The game doesn’t wait and Stanley will now have to displace Okoye to regain his position. Chelle was very impressed with Okoye and communicated his decision of making him the new first choice before the team left Portugal after their last friendly game’, an official of the team said.
He said the decision of Nwabali to terminate his deal with Chippa came as a surprise especially with no immediate alternative in place.
” It came as a surprise to the entire team especially when we found out that he has no immediate plans on his next career move. You don’t want to see a player inactive and it’s a concern”.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
