Should Stanley Nwabali Lose His Starting 11 Crown To Maduka Okoye For World Cup Qualifier Playoffs?

Some observers have complained that embattled Super Eagles starting goalkeeper has not been receiving adequate protection from defenders in front of him, which has led to some of the costly goals he conceded recently.

The truth of the matter is that Stanley’s own lapses in concentration have helped to drag his reputation through a hedge backwards.

He has been well protected. But he fumbles the ball and drops it altogether when he has no business doing so.

Nwabali still has enough credit in the bank of public sympathy due to his Afcon heroics a season ago. But for how long? That sympathy seems to be running out of steam.

Okoye, for his part , cannot seem to stay out of trouble. Though he has walked straight back into the starting 11 of his team in Italy, I still feel he is mentally fragile to wear the hot gloves for the Super Eagles. The wounds of condemnation he received from a section of Super Eagles fans several seasons back appear to have left deep scars.

I have never seen Amas Obaseki keep, however, why not take a gamble on him? He has been in camp several times and he has the build.

Talk about build, I think this is what lets Adebayo Adeleye down. He is nimble, agile and quick but height remains a “shortcoming” hard to overcome. Though I have seen short goalkeepers in international football “rise” to greatness, Adeleye is yet to prove to successive Super Eagles coaches the he can climb the ladder of competency expected of a national team goalkeeper.

Anyway, good luck to the team.

I still feel Cyprus based Frances Uzoho was discarded too soon into the dustbin of forgotten options available to the Super Eagles. Yes he made some almighty howlers but, as we have seen with Nwabali, any Super Eagles goalkeeper can commit blinding blunders when you least expect.