Super Eagles and Fortuna Dusseldolf goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has explained his decision to represent Nigeria professionally rather than Germany the country of his birth.
Okoye, who is a favorite amongst Nigerian females due to his handsome looks, is not Nigeria’s first choice keeper but still decided to accept the Nigeria Football Federation’s call to serve his fatherland because he knows Coach Gernot Rohr is planning long term.
Okoye made his debut for the Super Eagles in a friendly against Brazil three months ago and was also part of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho. He was then called up by Coach Gernot Rohr for their first match of the 2019-2020 season, a friendly against Ukraine last September and has been part of the Goal keeping squad following the Super Eagles’ search for new goalkeepers since Carl Ikeme retired from football over health issues.
In an interview with the Super Eagles Media Team via YouTube, Okoye explained his decision to represent Nigeria : “My opinion and my advice is to follow your heart, you have to feel it, where the love is. I felt the love in Nigeria and I feel like a Naija boy, that’s why I chose Nigeria over Germany”.
“I felt great after I got my first call-up to the Super Eagles, it was a pleasure. It’s a big step for me in my football career.
“With the first call-up I had a bit of problems but after that for the Ukraine game everything was set up and I prepared well.
“I couldn’t wait to get to the Super Eagles, everything went well. Thank God,” Okoye added.
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