Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has expressed elation following his return to the sticks in Nigeria's 2-1 loss to Rwanda on Monday, Soccernet.ng reports.
Udinese star Okoye, made his Super Eagles debut in 2019. At the time, he seemed like a breath of fresh air as Nigeria was struggling to produce top-level goalkeepers following the retirement of Vincent Enyeama and Carl Ikeme.
Unfortunately, he failed to deliver consistently. The former Bayer Leverkusen man made some errors that cost Nigeria. In 2022, after his blunder that contributed to the Super Eagles' exit from the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, he was badly attacked on social media and even had to deactivate all his pages.
Okoye then suffered a lull at club level after that, as he failed to impress at Championship club Watford and was permanently relegated to the bench.
The 25-year-old shot-stopper got his career back on track after joining Serie A club Udinese. However, Stanley Nwabali, who broke into the Super Eagles team this year, has taken over as the first-choice after impressing under former coach Jose Peseiro.
Unfortunately for Nwabali, he lost his father during the last international break and had to leave camp midway. Hence, Okoye was given a rare opportunity to man the sticks for Nigeria again.
Nigeria lost 2-1 to Rwanda, but the Udinese star had a decent game, albeit the second game he conceded was dodgy.
Following that result, Okoye has expressed his elation at playing for Nigeria again, as he believes it is a great honour.
“Despite the result I’m more than happy and grateful to have played in this jersey again. It has always been, it is and it will forever be an honour to represent Nigeria,” Okoye wrote on social media.
Due to Nwabali's consistent performances, it would take a lot for Okoye to displace him. Nonetheless, the Udinese man will have to continue his impressive showing at club level and hope that he will get the number 1 shirt back eventually.
