This past Serie A season, goalkeeper Maduka Okoye will be remembered for literally keeping Udinese in the Italian top flight.
Maduka Okoye🧤💪#FrosinoneUdinese pic.twitter.com/0UwaNqexQf
— Udinese Calcio (@Udinese_1896) May 30, 2024
The Super Eagles goalkeeper enjoyed a relatively impressive season since he was dropped by the national team for the delayed 2023 AFCON, as he single handedly kept struggling ‘Le Zebrette‘ in Serie A this past campaign.
Despite playing in a poor defensive set-up, Okoye posted a save percentage of 71%, facing 90 shots and making 65 saves this season.
In 21 games, he kept five clean sheets, one coming after a phenomenal performance against Juventus and the rest coming against Bologna, Leece, Torino and Monza.
Okoye was the main reason Udinese were not relegated to the Serie B on the final day as he put up a superb performance to keep out the attempts of home team and fellow relegation battlers Frosinone to keep his club in the top league.
Interestingly, he had warmed his new club’s bench for their first 17 games before he finally got his first start in a 2-0 home win over Bologna and has not looked back since then.
For the national team, Okoye had no chance to prove his worth at the 2023 AFCON as Stanley Nwabali, Francis Uzoho and Olorunleke Ojo were found more worthy.
The 24-year-old shot stopper last featured for the Super Eagles in January 2022 in a 2021 AFCON Round of 16 game against Tunisia.
Nigeria were eliminated from the tournament in Cameroon and Okoye, who made his international debut in October 2019, was widely blamed for the Tunisian goal.
On the back of his recent displays in Italy, the goalkeeper has been recalled by new coach Finidi George and he is expected to give Nwabali, who shone at the AFCON in February, a fierce competition.
It promises to be an interesting rivalry between the two goalkeepers.
