Fortuna Dusseldorf II goalkeeper Maduka Okoye is over the moon to have been included in the 23-man Super Eagles squad for the international friendly against Ukraine in Dnipro on September 30.
The 19-year-old is among the list of three goalkeepers named in the Super Eagles squad on Wednesday by coach Gernot Rohr.
Speaking after the list was made public, the Germany-based custodian said that he is overwhelmed by the call-up.
“I can’t imagine how happy I am. I just hope everything will go well and I will be one of those to arrive early,” told reporters.
Okoye is expected to solve the goalkeeper problem in the Super Eagles as the team has not yet to got a consistent replacement since Carl Ikeme’s football career ended due to illness in June 2017.
Francis Uzoho was packaged to the 2018 FIFA World Cup where Nigeria crashed out in the group stage, but he has since fallen off the pecking order in his career.
At the 2018 Africa Cup of Nations, Rohr used Daniel Akpeyi as the first choice, while also giving a chance to Uzoho and Ikechukwu Ezenwa, but the problem in the goalkeeping department has always been obvious.
Okoye was once invited to the U-23 national side for an Olympics qualifier earlier in the year but club commitments held him back.
The match against Ukraine will give a view of Rohr’s plans for the next cycle of Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifiers, as he looks to build on the side that finished third at the recent continental finals in Egypt.
