Henk Fraser does not hope for a successful edition of the Africa Cup for Nigeria. The trainer of Sparta Rotterdam has to miss Maduka Okoye during the participation of the Super Eagles. Where Okoye hopes to win the tournament, Fraser is fine with the team being eliminated at an early stage or if Okoye decides to return to the Netherlands prematurely, he tells with a small smile. RTV Rijnmond.
“I don’t begrudge anyone anything,” Fraser opens cautiously. He is already looking ahead to February 6, the day on which the final of the Africa Cup will be played and the match between Feyenoord and Sparta Rotterdam is scheduled in De Kuip. “But I understand that the final and the derby will be on the same date. So I hope for him that he goes there, but because he mainly owes his transfer to Sparta, I think that after one round, or a maximum of two rounds, he nice to come home.”
Fraser refers to the switch from Okoye to Watford. From January, the keeper is an official player of the Premier League club, which rents him out to Sparta for the rest of the season. An amount of seven million euros is reportedly involved in the transfer. Fraser understands that Okoye sees the African Cup participation differently. “I think everyone wants to perform as well as possible for his country. He is having a good time and wants to leave in a good way. I think Sparta has meant a lot to him. It is a very difficult one for him, but I hope Of course I have it back as soon as possible.”
Nigeria is in Group D along with Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau. Nigeria’s first game is against Egypt on January 11. “I think and I hope that I will go to the Africa Cup. It is not yet certain because of corona, but I hope it continues,” Okoye says. “I have one or two days of Christmas vacation and then I have to go straight to Nigeria and Cameroon. As a small child I always watched the Africa Cup and supported the Super Eagles For me it’s a dream, so I hope it continues.”
Okoye has no plans to return anytime soon. “We are going to the Africa Cup to win it. Nigeria is a great football country and we have a good team. I’m sure we can score high there,” said the closing post, who has already missed three games this month due to a shoulder injury. . He was replaced by Benjamin van Leer against AZ (3-1 defeat), but in the following games against sc Heerenveen (0-0) and Vitesse (2-1 defeat in the TOTO KNVB Cup), Fraser chose Tim Coremans. On Saturday, Okoye made his comeback under the bar in the league match against Vitesse (2-2).