Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro has warned his players there is still more work to be done despite their victory against Cote d’Ivoire on Thursday.
The West Africans revived their hopes of securing a berth in the Round of 16 courtesy of a 1-0 victory against the hosts at the Alassanne Quattara Stadium.
Centre-back William Troost-Ekong fired home the winning goal from the spot on 55 minutes after William Troost-Ekong was fouled inside the box.
Peseiro said it is important for his side to remain humble and focus on the task ahead.
“Now is not the time to celebrate, I have told the players. We eat properly, rest well and start preparation for the next game against Guinea-Bissau,” the Portuguese said during his interaction with the media after the game.
“The game on Monday is very important and that is what we should focus on now.
“We will only celebrate when we win the tournament. Now it’s time to work, work and work.”
Nigerian will take on the Djurtus of Guinea-Bissau in their final group game at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan next week Monday.
By Adeboye Amosu in Abidjan
Got what it Takes?
Predict and Win Millions Now
28 Comments
Coach I’m glad we won so no more bad luck or bad weather. Hehehehe
It’s right talk from vetern coach Peseiro so Super Eagles player must conceterat to the other match against Ginuea Bissaua, the players must humble in this tournament so that they could deal with any much without complacency.
An important lesson is that we should encourage competition in this team. It always bring out the best in players. Look at what onyeka did. He knows Yusuf is here to stay. Look at bassey and ekong. They know they will be booted out. What about ademola. Going forward let us put the players under pressure giving new players doing very well the chance to stake a claim. We may not invite thousands of new players but we can always give one or two the chance to come in.
I still believe the likes of akpom orban will still be relevant in our attack.
Likewise let us give the likes of nwobodo, ifeanyi Matthew the chance in that modified.
Igor ogbu should certainly get his chance. Ekong omerou are not getting younger. We hope we can build on the gains of the last match.
Hehehehe…. I just read some bunch of street urchins coughing out blood because they’ve not seen Dr Drey’s comments….LMAOoo.
I’ve been dropping comments on the live thread since when the match was ongoing and afterwards by they just weren’t appearing so I let myself have peace, hoping that whatever issues the csn page is having with my IP address will simmer off.
I hope this one sees daylight.
I indeed congratulated the team…..it was a gritty performance. At least if we end end up not coming home with anything, defeating the hosts in front of their president will be a good consolation.
And like I said, I will always take this kinds of pragmatic performances that yield results of aesthetics that do not.
Peserio must have been a coward to revert to using what ended up practically being a 7 man defence. He should have stuck with the 4-2-4 ’94 set wingplay table soccer nonsense Eguavoen was trying to foist on him and not learn to be pragmatic in his approach.
Like I said, it was a gritty performance….nothing to savour in the game apart from the fact that it ended up in a result most people desired and against the hosts too. And kudos to the defence that held strong too, especially to WT Ekong [the worst defender in the history of the SE, according to some charlatans]….he really gave some people the middle finger yesterday with his marshalling of the defence and leadership from the back.
And as for the euphoria of Nwabaili this nwabali that, I don’t expect anything less when he has 7 defenders in the penalty box in front of him, with no space for opponents to aim at….. reason he made himself look like a messaih with shots that were straight down his throat.
When we revert to our 424 that opens up our defence and gives our opponents enough room to be precise with their shots, when our opponents that getting free headers in the 6 yard box during set pieces, when he starts facing shots that change direction mid-flight, when he starts facing lethal marksman-like setpiece takers or other situations the similar to what his predecessors faced, then the true test of his messianic mien will be tested.
Y’all should enjoy the honeymoon phase he is serenading you with now while it lasts. I was also a loner after the last AfCOn when yall were skinning Okoye claiming Uzoho would have stopped that shot…..Uzoho is better….yen yen yen yen….today the Okoye that is not good, the okoye that has no business in the SE is not a Serie A goalkeeper…..LMAOoo, while the Uzoho who was the better on back then is now your villain.
So Stanley should enjoy his honeymoon, like I have previously said before, each new guy will first give us a first 5 good games that will make y’all feel good, it still doesn’t change the fact he is no messaih yet, before yesterday’s match some of y’all were already looking past him and mentioning Jonathan Rasheed, showing that your gut feeling about him is that of the jury still being out on him.
Lets all gather here after his 10th cap and have a friendly discussion about him ehn. Its his 4th cap yet and he’s not been anything like 2013 Enyeama. Not with the way every 1st shot in his previous 3 caps resulted in a goal before peserio now decided to put 7 defenders in his penalty box….LMAOoo.
For the sake of equity and fairness, peserio should kindly revert to 424 let us see how messianic the newfound solution to our Gk crises has been. Even Okoye and Uzoho at the height of their weakness kept clean sheets in matches.
Once again, congratulations to the team for grinding out that win yesterday….it wasn’t pretty, but it was just enough to make everyone happy. Peserio really took the easy way out by applying his master’s template…..just park the bus and wait for the odd chance that will give you the 3 point you need….LMAOoo
Spot on I believe we were all fighting for one cause (Excellence) but due to different perspectives that is why there are stand-offs. Your submission was exactly my reflection because the coach just realised his mistakes of opening up defence against teams he perceives as small that is why we had no head. I hope he doesn’t change the caution formation because all teams are paying details to any openings that even an Oliver Kahn can not prevent if exposed by his defence. Once again spot on and I don’t expect you to believe that I fully affirm to your submission.
@chima you better free @Dre ,that man will always find a way to make a case for himself and his believe, so he is literally telling us that hit short from fofana wasn’t an in swingers simply bcos it was saved and the GK wasn’t one of his fav. Also he is telling us the 1v1 save where nwabali made himself big wasn’t a crucial save even though it was later flagged as offside, same you @Dre want us to give uzoho and his calamity partner okoye 10yrs before accessing them but already counting how many goals nwabali have conceded in his first 3 games with the team, that is double standard at its peak.
And sọ what was special with saving a straight shot or 1 on 1 that I must join you in crowning nwabali King of kings for…??
Did Maduka not save shots vs Egypt and even a 1 on 1 against salah when we played Egypt in the group stage of the last afcon. Was it not because of 1 swerving long range shot that changed direction midflight in the R16 you all started sending death yhreats to his family…??
I am convinced in what I believe in and I believe in what I’m convinced about, so why does that pain you so badly.
When things start turning out as predicted it will still pain you Dr Drey said so…LMAOoo. Call down with your blind euphoria
Has uzoho and okoye not been parrying shots or saving 1 on ones before yall classed them as BAD…?
Did Ezenwa not keep clean sheets vs Cameroon and yet yall called him unreliable…?
What has nwabali done with 7 defenders in front of him that is giving you goose bumps.
Like I said above wait till When peserio reverts to the 424 that exposes us at the back or gives our opponents enough room to be precise with their shots or when our opponents start being unmarked with free headers in the 6 yard box during set pieces, when he starts facing shots that change direction mid-flight, when he starts facing lethal marksman-like setpiece takers or other situations the similar to what his predecessors faced, then the true test of his messianic mien will be tested.
It was only a simple placement pass few centimeters to his right hand that caught him flatfooted vs Equitorial Guinea….that was going to be called a goalkeeping error by your likes if it were uzoho in goal….but as it in your new bride who was in goal, there was nothing a goalkeeper could do about a shot an arm’s lenght away from him….LMAOoo. what hypocrisy.
Once again…let’s come back and have a health discussion after his 10th cap….let’s see how this solution to our goalkeeping problems is solutioning…LMAOoo
He can be confident all he wants….he’s just riding the honeymoon phase of his international career, which isn’t even outstanding yet, like every young goalkeeper, he will turn full circle in due course.
I hope you would still be this boistrous about him when that time comes…LMAOoo
At the rate, even if the young man win us this AFCON you still won’t rate him, just chill he will make you eat humble pie, nwabali no go gree for anybody, he is here to stay and after this AFCON all the way to Europe but not Cyprus, he is new to the entire team, playing his first AFCON and displaying such level of confidence yet you see nothing good in him yet right? Nwabali have cement his place as the first GK for now and yes we will criticize him when he start leaking unnecessarily later, but for now give home his flower.
Yes….I will still not rate him until he handles same situation his predecessors passed throught that turned all 6 of the to BAD Gks.
It’s called fairness.
He has not single handedly bailed us out of any game or produced any MOTM performances….so why does it pepper you so much that I’m not carried away by his 7 defenders aided clean sheet…???
Has he saved a shot on target that was initially going to the right and then suddenly changed to the left…? Has he saved a point blank&m free header in the 6 yard box from an unmarked opponent…? Has he saved a dying minute penalty…? As he handled any shot that took an awkward bounce or sudden dip right infront of him…?
Yes I hope Nwabali makes me eat Hubble pie….but his first 3 caps Has shown he cannot….LMAOoo. He has done nothing spectacular.
Ezenwa debutted against Cameroon in a higher staked matches and he kept a clean sheet, and didn’t concede from open play for 4 straight WCQs, but yall still found a way to give him a bad name……so shove your “he is new to the team” excuses down the dustbin. Uzoho was new to the team too when he came on vs Argentina on his debut and posted a super performance.
So Yes….he hasn’t been any spectacular compared to all his predecessors, so if I don’t rate him yet, it’s supposed to be my headache and not yours.
It is my prayer he makes me eat humble pie and move to Europe….LMAOoo…shebi na so e easy to move to even ordinary Cyprus, not to talk of Spain where Uzoho has kept b4….LMAOoo.
Hi everyone!
Good to be on the CSN after being on political leave.
On this, I fully align with Coach Peseiro. You see, When we celebrate prematurely, we may feel a false sense of accomplishment, which can reduce our impetus to work hard and achieve the actual goal. The boys need to be work more on their lapses to get there.
Well said Mr. Odion.
That is why the first thing the boys should do is to put less concentration on short-term results. Once the SE understand that the result of the next game is just a small puzzle of the full picture, they will reduce the emotional energy invested.
For now I think Nwabali has tied Uzoho to the bench until further notice. Okoye may be the only one to challenge him if he continues to play regularly for Udinese. The Ivorians were just shooting from everywhere thinking it was Uzoho that’s in goal. Lmao!! Nigeria found a rock in between the sticks in Stanley Nwabali. Your goalkeeper is as good as your defense. He rose to the occasion under pressure and plays with passion.
Thank God we have a foreign coach that can be tactically flexible not a table soccer self seeking naive OTONDO who can win the AFCON with these set of players in two weeks Lmao!! Wanting to reap from where he never sowed. Lmao!! Awọn GBEWIRI. Thereby turning everything into a disaster.
Whatever happens at the end of this tournament Peseiro has shown once again that a foreign coach is still better than our local coaches. Especially those 94 braggadocious. He might’ve found a formula that can likely win him the tournament if our front men can just take their chances particularly against big teams.
VAMOS ARRIBBA SUPEREAGLES!!!!
Our local coaches need to be flexible and adaptable.
As I said before now, please don’t expect much from Osimhen because all eyes on him and there’s a lot of pressure on him. This is why he has missed too much of the chances in this tournament.
The coaching crew has to install confidence in Osimhen. This is where other strikers have to rise up and help the team.
Onuachu has shown the coach what he is capable of, and the gaffer should give him more game time.
Moffi should lead the attack in our last match if the gaffer is bold enough and bring in Osimhen in the second half.
That will take off pressure from Osimhen.
Nwabali is making me proud. He’s growing in confidence in every match and being his first time in the Super Eagles. I believe he’s doing well.
Lastly, Oga Paseiro have to talk to his players because many of them are selfish. I don’t want to mention names, but we saw what they did in yesterday’s match.
It is not about who scores the goals but about the team and Nigeria. Knowing this will make the balance. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
Omo9ja,
I am glad that finally, you and others are starting to see the sterling qualities many of us saw in Onuachu long ago.
His hold up play and neat passing routines in his cameos – not to mention his ability to win fouls – have all been great to watch.
More to come from him.
Football is psychological. Stanley Nwabili has given a lot, I mean a lot of Nigeria fans renewed confidence in the Super Eagles’ goalkeeping department in just 2 games. His presence in goal also accounts for one major reasons why Peseiro is now seen in positive light in the eyes of many fans.
So, what’s there to complain about?
I though still choose to remain a fervent nd unapologetic Uzoho sympathiser. He is the oldest in the team but he star is fading fast. I feel pity that he has missed out of being number one at 3 Afcons to Akpeyi, Okoye and now Nwabili.
Now that Nwabili has tasted the fruit of 1st team football, he is unlikely to let go anytime soon. He is big, strong, imposing, agile and thoroughly commanding with decent distribution to boot. All he has to do is stay in South Africa to play regularly, stay fit and keep improving then that shirt will be his to keep leading to the 2026 World Cup.
Uzoho is slowly now being relegated to number 4 in the pecking order. Okoye will be back to give Nwabili a run for his money while another goalkeeper will emerge to take number 3 position. If Olorunleke Ojo should move to Albania and play regularly, he will easily be preferred to Uzoho by many fans.
Only by playing regularly in a decent league can Uzoho have a chance at redemption but even at that, he is already damaged goods in the eyes of many fans. Seeing how another goalkeeper has brought him love from the fans, will Peseiro ever turn back to Uzoho? I wonder!
But Uzoho still has his sympathisers, however few we might be!
@deo, I feel sad for Uzoho too, but football is an evolving game and we must flow.with the tide if we want to win. Uzoho may be back between the sticks sooner than you think. I believe his days in the SE are not over. However, the introduction of this new goal tender has done us some good. His composure in the last game against the host nation was very impressive. I hope he doesn’t disapoint.
Well Bomboy, if Nwabili disappoints, the same people singing his praises today are the same that will feed him to the Lions.
Like you rightly pointed out Deo, Uzoho has been unfortunate to go to 3 afcons without being first choice…..but somehow, he has often come back to winning the starting shirt after each AFCON…..have you asked yourself how come..?
The answer isn’t far fetched…ìts down to the reckless attitude of these generation of fans in looking for whom to scapegoat after every dissapointment.
Akepyi was no 1 in 2019…..despite several breathtaking saves he pulled, particularly in games vs Burundi and Cameroon in that tournament, conceeding a freekick to a world class freekick taker was all that was needed to give him a bad name…..this is a lad who on the back of that afcon performance secured a move to one of the biggest clubs in SA, went on to bench 2 serving SA national team GKs, was instrumental to their push for a league title for the 1st time in a decade and emerged as best GK in that season’s CAF CL with 10 clean sheets. Yes….akpeyi kept 10 clean sheets on the continent….in spite of the win at home at all cost syndrom that characterizes African continental club competitions.
Enter 2021 AFCON….it was okoye this time around. Boy was all over the place vs Egypt and Mo Sahla, was only let down by Ọla Aina vs Sudan and was keeping things well vs Tunisia until an unchallenged Msakni shot from 35 yards changed direction from heading right midflight to heading left….even though maduka still managed to readjust his body movement to parry the ball, the was just not enough parry on the ball to get it over the crossbar….that’s was all that was needed to vent hate, bile and death wishes on him and persona nongrate him from the national team. The poor maduka has never since then fully recovered from the PTSD he suffered as a result and is now looking to be a permanent fixture for Udinese in the Serie A. For the 2nd time in his short professional career, he has fought his way from the bottom to becoming 1st choice Gk in a club campaigning in a top league in Europe.
In between Uzoho kept regaining his place at no 1.
All these Goalkeepers are BAD according to Nigerians.
I am not the biggest fan of the man Sunday Oliseh, but he said something recently in an interview….he said “none of our Gks is BAD, it is the pressure they are forced to go through that is bad”.
This is the same thing I have always said on this forum.
Some people even expect uzoho to claim corner kicks floated to the other edge of his 6 yard box in a crowded penalty area…..LMAOoo….I wanted to ask the nicompoop who said that while blaming uzoho for lesotho’s free header in Uyo, why Nwabali didn’t also come out to claim similar corner kicks floated by CIV to the alternate end of his 6 yard box, since he seemed to know more goalkeeping than goalkeepers themselves.
I am never afraid to be a loner in what I’ve seen happen time and again. I was alone here after 2021 afcon when almost everyone was requesting for okoye to be demoted for Uzoho claiming Uzoho is better……today the better Uzoho is not even wanted to be seen at all on any SE list.
Stanley should rather thread carefuly….the ground is very slippery. That is my kind advice to him. He should ride this honeymoon phase of his national team career carefully. Ilechukwu Ezenwa has a far better outstanding first 5 caps that him….where is Ezenwa in the SE today…? His fate as an outcast was sealed after the 2019 group stage game against Madagascar.
Someone is already even saying he would move to Europe….LMAOoo….because of the 4 goals he conceded vs Mexico, or the 2 he conceded vs Guinea or the 1 he conceded flat footed against EQG, or the 7 man defence aided cleansheet vs CIV…??? LMAOooo…..really, is that how European clubs jump on Gks from Africa…?
Candid advice to Stanley….thread carefully, the ground is slippery. Not everyone is carried away by his showmanship. He know what Nigerians want and he’s giving it to them. Just like Peserio came on and knew that Nigerians like braggadocious coaches…..LMAOoo….came in and started bragging about taking us to Jupiter…LMAOoo. 2 years down the like his win ratio is barely 45% when his longer term predecessor peaked 65% at some point in time.
Onuachu is not new to me when nobody was there to support him. God and I stood by him at the national team. I hope you remember those days @Deo baba?
Onuachu is one of my products that was introduced to the national. I know his capability too well.
I hope the coach knows how to use the lanky striker now. When there’s pressure on the team or to waste time, Onuachu can bring calmness and stability to Super Eagles but with less scoring chances because of our wingers.
But doing the annoying stuff to our oppositions, I think he’s very good at this going forward.
I will blame the gaffer for not taking the 27-man list to this tournament.
Now that there’s pressure on Osimhen, Dessers is very dangerous in front of goal while our opponents would be focusing on Osimhen then Dessers would be scoring goals for Nigeria but Dessers is missing while Osimhen has been misfiring.
Nwakali would have been useful a lot in this tournament.
Onuachu can do the damages with what he was able to do against the host country. Going forward, we still need other strikers in the Super Eagles because Osimhen can not do it all.
The coach should be unpredictable in this tournament. He should rest Osimhen, and he should bring Moffi in the first half while Osimhen can in the second half.
I don’t trust Moffi in the national team because he hasn’t proven his worth yet. I prefer Dessers and Onuachu to him.
For Oga Paseiro, he shocked me against Ivory Coast, and I hope he continues that way.
Hmm. As I said before the tournament, I do not trust the coach ability but if he proved me wrong by beating the likes of Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, and Cameroon then I will give him a chance just I did for Oga Rohr during his team with the Super Eagles but he messed up in the end and I turned my back jęję.
However, I hope you have been enjoying by guy Nwabali so far, Deo?
With what you have seen so far, don’t you think the experience of Uzoho is not needed in the Super Eagles in this tournament?
I love Uzoho, but we have to be honest with ourselves. we need another golie to compete with Uzoho and Okoye.
Nwabali is very confident in himself, and when they ask him about his performance, he replied, he hasn’t been in his best yet and he hasn’t done anything better compared to his club side. I have no doubt in this Nwabali.
I don’t like to say this, but I thank God that the players I introduced to the national team are helping our Super Eagles.
If not, many people would have come out to rubbish my efforts. Nwabali and Onuachu are making me proud, and as promised to serve Nigeria with all my strengths, I will continue to do so. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
If I get @Oseodion clearly, it’s like saying the Dolgers passed this meaningful or mini milestone without fanfare. After winning last match, fans expressed their focus on winning against the Djurtus on Monday and the opinion of the team appeared that no one wished to celebrate early. However, this attitude of title or bust mostly leads to disappointment, given the terrifically tough odds that even the most dominant of teams face when competing in this sort. Coachie is on point having drew Equitoria Guinea in the first match.
For me, early celebration may lead to complacency and a loss of motivation on the part of the players. The good thing is that they are bonding everyday.
You aren’t out of point at all. Peseiro actually admonished his charges not to celebrate yet till Victoria aceta though my friends ended up at Sospiro for some good wine after the match against Ivory coast. I bet, you can’t beat that.
Absolutely Papilo, the players are indeed bonding everyday. It’s great to see that camaraderie.
Dr Drey,
Thanks for your contribution above. I think sometimes we run the risk of over-analysing a situation.
As 100% valid as your submission on attitude towards Nigerian goalkeepers is, I think we have to (sadly) live in the moment for once.
I stuck by Uzoho: my choice. But, in truth, either through his own weaknesses or the weakness of the formation he played in or a combination of both, Uzoho’s output has been disgusting in the past 24 months. Despite that, I would have loved for the coach to give him another chance in this tournament, more so as he (Peseiro) would finally by trying new formations that will afford goalkeepers greater protection.
Alas that was not the case, Peseiro elect to edge his bets on Nwabili and so far I have to regrettably confess that it is working: majority of fans have are now slowly falling back in love with the Super Eagles goalkeeping department.
As valid as all your comments on this matter has been, football sadly has always been about the here and now: Chelsea would always sack coaches that achieve greatness in the past if they stop producing NOW, Gernot Rohr was sacked by the NFF because in their eyes he wasn’t delivering good football NOW despite his prior successes, Nottingham Forest sacked Awoniyi coach despite promoting and retaining their Premier League status because he was not delivering NOW.
I can go on…..
Nwabili is delivering the goods now. With 5 defenders in front of him, did Akpeyi not concede 2 goals against Argentina, with 5 defenders in front of him did Uzoho not concede against Central Africa Republic, with 5 defenders in front of him Uzoho not concede 2 goals against Argentina ? With 5 defenders in front of him did Okoye not concede 1 goal against Cape Verde?
Now Nwabili has kept a clean sheet against Ivory Coast (a highly formidable team) under similar circumstances to Uzoho, Akpeyi and Okoye and you don’t want long suffering Super Eagles supporters to shout for joy?
Dr Drey, Dr Drey, Dr Drey, let’s live in the moment and enjoy what it brings. We didn’t go beyond the round of 16 in the last Afcon but my God I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our group stage heroics.
Let the fans milk out of the marrows of enjoyment they are getting from Nwabili at the moment. In the true and harsh spirit of football, once he starts to fumble and Uzoho signs for and plays regularly for Ipswich Town in the English Championship, then you will start hearing this same fickle, fairweather disloyal fans change their tune. We have seen it before and we will see it again.
Go back to 2018, I wasn’t a fan of Uzoho being picked ahead of Akpeyi for the 2018 World Cup. I STAYED LOYAL WITH AKPEYI UNTIL THE END! Now the same fans (I won’t mention names) who argued fervently in favour of Uzoho at the time are now his most ardent abusers and critics-in-chief?
When Emperor Julius Ceaser was being assassinated and butchered to death, he looked at one of his killers and said: ‘Brutus, so you are one of them?’
Uzoho, despite his mistakes, deserves to be the Number One goalkeeper in this tournament, that is loyalty. But God knows best.
Well, I am happy for Nwabili and I think he was exceptional against Ivory Coast. He just Oozes with confidence and finesse. He is big strong and imposing and fills you with much confidence in between the sticks.
But, he should beware, the Super Eagles Fanbase is not short of ‘Brutus’ people like his predecessors Uzoho, Okoye, Akpeyi, Ezenwa found out!
@Deo, I appreciate your humility and honesty. Your analysis of current situation is top-notch.
After the match against Mexico, i made a case for Nwabali and was happy when he moved to SA league. The margin against Mexico could have been wider if Nwabali was an overrated GK.
Anyone oraying for Nwabali to commit hollers like Uzohobasket is not doing himself any good. Unlike Uzohobasket, Nwabalistic got confidence, great passing, timings, organizational skills, and all the traits to become a World class GK like Enyeama.
Uzohobasket is only in the team because of the unfair treatment to Adeleye. Though I wasn’t happy with the exclusion of some players I still support the team.
It’s really funny that some folks here are waiting for the team to fail just to massage their bursting ego!
*praying* *howler*
CSN get us edit button
E tu, Brute?
While Brutus proved to be treacherous to Julius Ceasar, Nigeria fans are not that way with Uzoho or Okoye.
If Nigeria fans have abandoned these two, it is because of the kasala that their errors have caused.
Na condition make crayfish bend.
Yes, we pity Uzoho for not having the opportunity to man the posts in 3 Afcons.
But should we also not pity the fans, who have suffered so much frustration and disappointment due to costly errors? SHOULD WE NOT PITY THE FANS?
If it was just a few mistakes, of course that would NOT be a big deal. Is there anyone who doesn’t make mistakes?
But with Uzoho and Okoye, it was howler after howler after ridiculous howler! For Uzoho, it culminated in the $20 million howler against Ghana, an error that eliminated us from the world cup, and the FIFA bonus that would have come with qualification.
Talking about Okoye. Alright, Msakni’s shot was swerving to and fro, so Okoye couldn’t cope with it. Fine.
How do you rationalize the goal Okoye conceded against Algeria Team B in that friendly? He was inside his 6 yard box trying to dribble his future, and the Algerian took the ball from him and scored. What the heck was Okoye thinking?
Put yourself in the mind of an average Nigeria fan in that moment? The sheer anguish of watching a totally preventable goal going into the Nigeria net. Some fans probably ended up in the emergency room.
SHOULD WE NOT PITY THE FANS TOO?
That Peseiro has not touched him with a 10 foot pole since then is totally understandable. When a coach selects a goalie, he is basically putting his livelihood in that goalie’s hand. After that Okoye howler, would you in all honesty still select him?
Of course, if Okoye shows on current form that he’s good enough, he will be right back in the squad. But trust is like money. It is easily lost, but it’s hard to earn. Okoye has to earn the trust of the coaches and the fans all over again. Same goes for Uzoho.
We wish both of them all the best!