Speculations are rife that the much maligned Maduka Okoye might be considering quitting the Super Eagles.
The 22 year old Glovesman pulled out of the doomed world cup qualifiers against Ghana last minute and now, local media are reporting that he has pulled out of upcoming friendlies and Afcon qualifiers, fueling speculations about his state of mind concerning his Super Eagles status.
Okoye was a Rohr-project. He was introduced to the Super Eagles whilst playing lower division football. Many fans frowned at this at the time. He has since moved up to top tier football in Holland (receiving rave reviews for his heroics in the league for Sparta Rotterdam) but many Super Eagles fans remain uncomfortable and unconvinced about his current abilities and future potentials.
Okoye was in goal when Nigeria gave up 4 goals lead to draw 4-4 against lowly Sierra Leone in an Afcon qualifier. He would then be heavily criticised for allowing a lame shot go through him for the only goal by Tunisia that knocked Nigeria out of this year’s Afcon in January.
Since then, he hasn't honoured national team invitation maxing speculations that he has either quit or he is seriously considering his national team future.
Should he quit, some Nigeria fans will welcome this but others will mourn. Okoye has never been a universally acceptable huge fan favourite but he did exceptionally well in the Dutch league last season.
Some fans believe Nigeria has better elastic and nimble goalkeepers waiting to be discovered. Others feel that the best of Okoye is yet to be seen.
There is no official confirmation as of today that Okoye has formally pulled out of upcoming Super Eagles assignments.
Health related excuse was given as the official reason he pulled out of the world cup qualifiers against Ghana even though he played for his club immediately before and after the Ghana match!
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