James Maddison admitted he could have won the game for Brendan Rodgers side but was full of praise for the Nigeria midfielder who atoned for his earlier mistake by scoring the leveller.
Wilfried Ndidi’s error led to Mason Mount’s seventh minute opener but the Super Eagles star grabbed the equalizer on 67 minute after nodding home from a James Maddison corner.
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With the game increasingly open and Chelsea susceptible to counter attacks, Maddison should have netted a late winner but he skied his effort from six yards out.
The Leicester City midfielder speaking to Sky Sports afterwards said: “We come away disappointed, if you come to Stamford Bridge and play like that you have to take your chances.
“I scored seven goals last season and I want to improve and go to that next level so I have to put that chance away. But I’m practicing and working on my game,” said James Maddison.
On Wilfried Ndidi’s performance to score the equaliser after being at fault for Chelsea’s goal, Maddison added: “His reaction was brilliant, to show the character and make amends with a bullet header deserves a lot of praise.”
“He doesn’t get the praise he deserves and he does the part of the game no-one wants to do,” Maddison concluded.
Okoye is a Nigerian like every other player in the Nigerian league and deserves call up like every other player. If the local players are that good, foreign scouts would have snatched them up either for leagues in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, South Africa or Europe.
I personally think the NFF is not doing enough to develope and showcase the supposedly talented players in the league-how talented they are is what we will never know since we do not see them play week- in ,week -out.
Also, it’s saddening that a legend like Peter Rufai finds it convenient to criticize the decision of the coach with respect to the choice of foreign / locally based players…I wonder why Rufai with his years of experience and exposure does not have an academy basically to develop the next generation of goal keepers who can then be exported to good foreign clubs to prove and improve their skills there by earn a place in the national team on merit…like the Cameroonian goalkeeper who keeps for Ajax. So, Rufai should stop criticising the invitation of foreign born Nigerian players at the instance of local players! We are all Nigerians…if all the quality players Nigeria needs are foreign born and foreign based, so be it…however if they are all based in the Nigeria league, so be it also. My only wish is to see the likes of Dele Alampasu…et al distinguishe themselves enough to be called up to the National team.