Super Eagles Maduka Okoye delighted with Udinese debut

Maduka Okoye joined Watford from the Dutch Eridivisie but mostly played as a second choice for the bees, before eventually moving to Italy.

Super Eagles goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye has expressed his gratitude after making his Udinese debut last night, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 24-year-old joined the Italian side from Watford, but had to be patient to finally get his chance to play, and he put up an impressive display in Udinese’s 2-1 loss to Cagliari last night.

The Nigerian goalkeeper denied Cagliari chances to score the winner at least eight times in the Copa Italia’ clash, before a last minute goal knocked his side out of the competition.

Despite the loss, Okoye had a great game, and was happy to finally get his chance.

“It was unfortunate, but I think that in recent times we have been developing a good mentality, offensive and pattern. I thank the club for giving me this opportunity to play, I will learn from this experience. It’s been a long time since I saw the pitch, I also thank the fans. I’m sure I will enjoy playing for this shirt,” he told the club’s official website.

Okoye also expressed disappointment with the result which means Udinese end their cup journey.

“I think we pushed hard, some of us have waited a long time for this moment. We wanted to play and win, it’s difficult to finish like this because we conceded goals in the last minute. I would have been ready to face penalties but unfortunately we didn’t get there,” the goalkeeper added.

The goalkeeper will be hopeful he gets more chances to show what he can do, and hopefully reclaim the number spot from Francis Uzoho in the National Team.

Adefolahan Guerreiro

Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria. With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience. He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.

View Comments

  • Manuka Okoye should be Nigeria's first choice keeper right now, since we failed to convince Noah Atubolu of the German Bundesliga. Uzuho isn't intelligent enough and is clearly older than Okoye.

Share
Published by
Adefolahan Guerreiro

Recent Posts

“What Super Eagles must do to qualify for 2026 World Cup” — Auxerre defender Osho

Super Eagles star Gabriel Osho is confident that the team can qualify for the 2026… Read More

10 hours ago

Isaiah Ahmed: Van Persie’s player inspired by Obi Mikel and Troost-Ekong, dreams of Flying Eagles spot

18-year-old defensive midfielder who is currently making waves at SC Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie,… Read More

10 hours ago

Ola Aina kickstarts Christmas celebrations for Nottingham Forest with brilliant strike against Brentford – Watch

Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest full-back, Olaoluwa Temitayo Aina, scored his second Premier League goal… Read More

11 hours ago

“More opportunity and encouragement” – One-time AFCON winner congratulates Lookman, pleads with NFF to hire local coaches

Former Super Eagles and Shooting Stars forward, Segun Odegbami, has congratulated Ademola Lookman for winning… Read More

12 hours ago

Lookman: Pinnick’s chest-beating recalls NFF youth policy

Oh, it was great to see the media reaction when Amaju Pinnick turned on his… Read More

12 hours ago