Super Eagles and Udinese goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye, has heaped praise on his National teammate, Victor Osimhen, claiming the Galatasaray man was one of the quality players he faced in the Italian Serie A, Soccernet.ng reports.
Okoye played second fiddle between the sticks at Udine last year until he had a resurgence mid-season, and then went on to become the first-choice goalkeeper, helping them stay up in the league, and was even linked with a move to Inter Milan.
Speaking about what it feels like to play in the Italian Serie A, the former Sparta Rotherham man revealed the league is filled with quality footballers, citing Osimhen as a prime example, before the forward joined Galatasaray on loan.
“I faced also my brother Osimhen, it’s also something not easy to face. A lot of quality players in the Serie A.
Osimhen scored one goal against me, we played 1-1 at home against Napoli. It’s in his DNA to score and for him it’s not possible to not score.
He’s too much of a quality striker but people could see that he didn’t celebrate the goal. It meant a lot to me, he has to do his job. This man is too dangerous not to score,” the Germany-born Nigerian goalkeeper said in an interview with Sporty TV.
Maduka could feature when Nigeria play against Rwanda on Monday. The Super Eagles have already qualified for the AFCON 2025 tournament, making the match a dead rubber game.
Additionally, Stanley Nwabali recently lost his father and could be given a break from the game to mourn properly. Should Okoye start, it will be his first game for the Super Eagles in over two years.
