National Teams
Maduka Okoye relives AFCON 2023 down moment with Super Eagles
By Monsurah Olatunji
Nigeria goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has expressed his sadness over the goalkeeping error that cost Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The goalkeeping position for the Super Eagles has seen no clear first choice, with no fewer than six different goalkeepers featuring for the team in the past five years.
Okoye made his Super Eagles debut in 2019 and quickly established himself as the team’s starting goalkeeper. He was Nigeria’s number-one gloveman at the 2021 AFCON.
However, he has not featured for Nigeria since committing an error in the Round of 16 clash against Tunisia, which led to the Super Eagles’ exit from the tournament.
The 24-year-old now faces tough competition from Chippa United’s Stanley Nwabali, whose impressive performances at the last continental tournament have made him a strong contender for the starting spot.
Okoye returned to the Super Eagles team after being called up for the World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin Republic, but he was an unused substitute in both games.
In a recent interview with Oma TV, Okoye reflected on his costly mistake: “At that moment, I told myself I should have done better. It pains me till today, to be honest. You could see it was a mistake because I had to keep the ball out of the goal. If I want to play at Inter Milan, then I have to do better in such situations.”
“I’ve been training hard, improving in the last two years because I don’t want things like that to happen again. Mistakes happen; last week, Manuel Neuer, who is one of the best, made a mistake. It’s part of the game, and it was hard for me as a young boy to go through it after it happened.”
“I’m not just talking about what I read on social media; it’s more about the feeling of letting your teammates down, your family down, and letting your country down. At this stage, I’m not even reading the nonsense on social media anymore. Some people still talk badly about Cristiano Ronaldo despite his achievements.”
“People will always say something bad about you. I know myself that I didn’t do good in that situation, and I know that I let my teammates and my country down in that situation. And I’m still to this day unhappy and sad about it, and I wish I could do differently, but it happened and I learned from my mistake.”
