Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr, in preparation for Nigeria’s friendly against Ukraine, extended a maiden invitation to the 19-year-old foreign based goalkeeper, a decision which has raised dust among football lovers in the country.
Nigeria’s national football team is widely believed to be at the cusp of a golden era that is expected to be ushered in by the country’s current array of young talents who are reaching their peaks at about the same time.
Natural finishers. Goalscoring wingers. Box-to-box midfielders. Strong midfield enforcers. Ball-playing, no-nonsense defenders. Flying fullbacks. The country is blessed with at least two promising players in each of the positions outfield.
But in the goalkeeping department there remains a migraine that just won’t go away.
At different times the likes of Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi and Francis Uzoho had been presented as the solution to the problem but each time, each has failed to nail down the jersey as his.
With Akpeyi yet again not impressing at the last Africa Cup of Nations where the Super Eagles couldn’t make the final, it was clear that the team’s coaching staff needed to find a new pair of safe hands.
https://www.twitter.com/OkoyeMaduka/status/1161676027325796352
But is Maduka Okoye the answer to the goalkeeping question?
While the Fortuna Dusseldorf B goaltender deserves his chance as a Nigerian and a proud one for that matter, his inclusion however in Gernot Rohr’s list is not yet justified.
https://www.twitter.com/Waynetipsy/status/1162102208042885121
Nigerians have never had issues with foreign-based players strolling into the national team if they earned their spots. Fans have warmed up to and adored William Troost-Ekong, Carl Ikeme, Leon Balogun, Victor Moses and others since the day they received their first call up.
What is not acceptable is a young chap, playing backup in the German fourth division coming to claim the same jersey worn by the great Peter Rufai.
It belittles not just that jersey but also the rich history behind it.
This controversy would have been avoided if Gernot Rohr and his assistants had done a bit more work to look for other options for the team. Whatever happened to the German manager’s policy of only inviting players who turn out regularly for their top clubs?
No one has any issue with Maduka Okoye. His natural pathway would have been to proceed to the Flying Eagles where his development would have been closely monitored.
https://www.twitter.com/oluwashina/status/1098491202016628736
There has to be better goalkeepers in the Nigerian Professional Football League than a promising backup in Germany’s amateur leagues. If there are none, we’d better scrap the local leagues and turn our attentions to cricket.
Rohr’s distaste for Nigeria’s local league and its players is magnified by his decision to overlook Enyimba’s Theophilus Afelokhai and co who can do a decent job until Uzoho and Maduka come of age.
The inclusion of Maduka Okoye in the Super Eagles setup is a crude joke taking too far. It is hoped that he comes in and show everyone that he is the next Vincent Enyeama.
But if it is clear that he is not up to the required level needed to play international football, Gernot Rohr and his coaching team should be brave enough to swallow their pride and send the youngster to where his talents will be needed.
Now you are talking, Imhons. A goalkeeper who lacks confidence in the ability of the men immediately in front of him will never excel. History will never forgive Pinnick for supporting Rohr, whose salary and welfare comes first before any real devotion to duty. How could he have fallen for that dated bait that allows our national coach to operate from Europe when half his’ and the coach’s job pertains to developing the local league to acceptable standards?
To select the best of local league footballers and training them to constitute 80 percent of your national team is the best way to developing Nigerian football. That has been the tradition. The alternative is to do a half baked job by, for instance, allowing the country’s national coach to be situated abroad, where he is comfortable picking every Tom and Harry he finds to form 80 to 85 percent of Nigeria’s national representatives!
Rohr does not know these players well enough, and in his desperation to put up a winning team that could satisfy Nigerians, he packages and fields them on our behalf. Has Nigeria’s football gone down that low? That system is faulty and cannot win a gold trophy anywhere. It is called Cut-and-Nail, and no true manager of any venture succeeds that way.
This explains why, after years in charge, he is still experimenting and has not yet assembled a complete first eleven to represent Nigeria. Meanwhile, the Nigerian Premier League, our football’s future, is hemorrhaging from lack of proper attention…
Rohr has never managed a country that is so blessed with so many talented footballers all over. Take it easy on him, sir.
Ride on ROHR…. I love u, at least u have shun bribe and U HAVE hold on to ur integrity by inviting players based on their form,,,, keep it up… If they like let them cry a river….
It is better to please 140milion pple and allow de remaing sect who thinks they can fool us again to keep wailing…..
The home base keeper that cannot dispose EZENWA from de number one spot in de CHAN that u pple want to market…. Pple that were thrashed 4nil by Morocco after they manage and crawl to de final….
De likes of OBAJE, OKPOTU and de rest that top NPFL for de past 2 season where are they in Europe… Are they not lost after moving to foreign countries???
That shows that NPFL is not the league we knew b4 that produce de likes of OKOCHA, KANU, AMOKACHI, OLISEH, ENYEAMA, MUSA, RUFAI, FINIDI, IKPEBA, AMUNIKE etc…..
This crop of players are after money and how to rush to europe…. And now they want to use the national team to show case themselves,,,,, rubbish…. It would not work again……
We know all this things…. U pple want to market ur players (GK)….
And Rohr is not giving u pple chance to do it that is y u pple are aggitated with him…..
Who cares????
Ride on BABA GERNOT ROHR…..
I LOVE U….. RESPONSIBLE NIGERIANS AND MEN OF INTEGRITY LOVES U…..
EVEN OUR PRESIDENT LOVES U BCOS U DON’T GIVE A DAMN….
WE ARE IN THE NEXT LEVEL OF “NO CORRUPTION IN THE SUPER EAGLES”
5 GBOSSA FOR ROHR AND PINNICK…..
THE MEN WERE SABI….
True talk,its been a while we hv a steady coach like we do nw,rohr is d best 4 us, he picks base on form n how regular you play,and the league u play in. which is the same method countries like spain germany uses.
I don’t see any problem , Maduka Okoye has to be tired first to know his capability in goal keeping