Maduka Okoye has already played ten caps for Nigeria and is also expected to be under the bar in the World Cup qualifiers against the Central African Republic on Thursday and Sunday. The Sparta Rotterdam goalkeeper is the first choice of national coach Gernot Rohr, despite the fact that there was a lot of skepticism when he first stood under the bar. In conversation with the BBC Okoye tells about his development as an international and his dreams for the future.
The now 22-year-old goalkeeper came into the picture with Nigeria when he played for the Under-19 of Fortuna Düsseldorf. The national coach of Nigeria, himself a German, was pointed out to the young Okoye by sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel of Fortuna. On October 13, 2019, he made his debut in the friendly against Brazil. The 1.97 meter long closing post had not yet played a single game for the first team of a club at that time, so that his qualities were doubted. “In the beginning there was a lot of doubt about me,” says Okoye. “When I played in the lower leagues of Germany, people couldn’t believe I had talent.”
“Now there are far fewer people who doubt me. The higher the level you play, the more they respect you.” Okoye transferred to Sparta in the summer of 2020 and developed into a reliable keeper. In his first season, he was passed just 35 times in 28 games and kept 10 clean sheets. In the current season, the counter stands at sixteen goals in eight matches. On Sunday he kept Sparta going for a long time against PSV with great saves, but he was unable to prevent a 2-1 defeat. After the defeat, Okoye traveled to Africa to represent his country, which he still doesn’t consider a given despite nine consecutive starting spots.
“I have found that club football is very different from playing for your country. I don’t see myself as Nigeria’s number one yet. I still have a lot of steps to take before I become the undisputed number one,” said Okoye, who made his debut. in October 2019 as ‘almost unreal’. “We played a match against Brazil in Singapore as part of their practice campaign. Francis Uzoho got injured during the match, so I had to do a quick warm-up with the other reserve keeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa. It was him or me. I was nervous. when the choice fell on me and a lot went through my mind, but as soon as I got on the field it felt like any other game.”
Okoye came in the second half as a replacement for the injured Uzoho, after which nothing changed in the score (1-1). He is currently focusing on qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. In Group C of the African qualifying series, Nigeria tops the table with six points after two matches. “We have to do our duty and qualify,” Okoye said. Playing in January the Super Eagles in the group stage of the Africa Cup against Egypt, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau. “Such tournaments are a great platform for players like me. Ultimately, I hope to play in the Premier League. At the moment, the most important thing is that I get to play a lot and develop myself, which I do at Sparta in the Eredivisie.”