{"id":893156,"date":"2026-03-21T02:17:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T07:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/21\/we-deserved-to-win-okoye-breaks-silence-on-nigerias-afcon-heartbreak-world-cup-miss\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T02:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T07:17:16","slug":"we-deserved-to-win-okoye-breaks-silence-on-nigerias-afcon-heartbreak-world-cup-miss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/21\/we-deserved-to-win-okoye-breaks-silence-on-nigerias-afcon-heartbreak-world-cup-miss\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We deserved to win\u2019 \u2013 Okoye breaks silence on Nigeria\u2019s AFCON heartbreak, World Cup miss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Nigeria and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye. Copyright: Cristiano Mazzi\/Imago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has opened up on Nigeria\u2019s recent struggles on the international stage, Soccernet.ng reports<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Udinese shot-stopper, who has been part of the Nigerian setup since 2019, reflected honestly on the team\u2019s disappointment at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and their failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n

Nigeria went into the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations with high hopes of lifting the trophy, but their journey ended in heartbreak. After reaching the semi-finals, they lost on penalties to hosts Morocco and had to settle for a third-place finish.<\/p>\n

Okoye was not part of the squad for the tournament, having excused himself while Stanley Nwabali took charge as first-choice goalkeeper. Watching from home did not make the pain any easier.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Super Eagles and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye. Photo Credit: NFF Comms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Maduka Okoye told SportyTV<\/a>, \u201cI was watching from home as a supporter, like all the other 200\u2013300 million Nigerians. We deserved to win the Cup, but next year is already the next opportunity for us, and we will do everything to bring it home again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That disappointment was followed by an even bigger setback, as the Super Eagles failed to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For a country with Nigeria\u2019s football history and talent pool, missing out on the global showpiece was a major blow.<\/p>\n

Okoye admitted that even the players themselves are still searching for answers.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNational team football is a different kind of football, and the answer might be in the World Cup,\u201d Okoye said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really know, because we have the quality, we have great players, top-level players, top characters in the team. Hopefully, we get it done next time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Despite the setbacks, the 24-year-old remains optimistic that the team can bounce back stronger in future competitions.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Nigeria and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye. Copyright: xIPAxSport\/IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soccer Maduka Okoye: Choosing Nigeria over Germany and looking ahead<\/h2>\n

After missing AFCON, Okoye has now been recalled to the Super Eagles squad<\/a> for upcoming international friendlies against Iran and Jordan in Antalya. His return signals a fresh chapter as Nigeria begins to rebuild.<\/p>\n

Born in Germany to a German mother and Nigerian father, Okoye had the opportunity to represent Germany at international level. However, his heart was always set on Nigeria.<\/p>\n

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Okoye said, \u201cI grew up in Germany, but my father was very, very present in my life, especially in my young and early ages. So, I keep a lot of Nigerian inside of me, and I’m very proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Soccer
Nigeria Super Eagles and Udinese GK Maduka Okoye. Photo by IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He also revealed that choosing Nigeria was never a difficult decision, even though he had experience with German youth teams.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI always knew I wanted to play for Nigeria, and back then I didn\u2019t have another option. Of course, I went to youth German selections, but when the time came for Nigeria, I knew this was a dream, and I made it come true, by God’s grace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With 18 caps to his name, Okoye remains part of Nigeria\u2019s goalkeeping pool as the team looks to move past recent disappointments.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele” src=”https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2024\/12\/DSC_0327-copy-150×150.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tImhonlamhen Eronmhonsele\t\t\t\t<\/a>
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\n\t\t\t\tA lifelong fan of Arsenal and the Super Eagles, Imhonlamhen is a football writer and editor at Soccernet.ng, where his journey as a journalist began more than six years ago. Since then, he has helped shape the platform\u2019s editorial voice and guided it toward some of its proudest milestones. <\/p>\n

With a background in Engineering and further training in journalism and digital media, Imhons brings both precision and passion to his storytelling. His love for football runs deep, but he also follows boxing, chess, and athletics with equal curiosity.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Imhonlamhen Eronmhonsele<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Nigeria and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye. Copyright: Cristiano Mazzi\/Imago Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has opened up on Nigeria\u2019s recent struggles on the international stage, Soccernet.ng reports. The Udinese shot-stopper, who has been part of the Nigerian setup since 2019, reflected honestly on the team\u2019s disappointment at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":893157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39587,34997,2005],"tags":[43884,114186],"class_list":{"0":"post-893156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-we","8":"category-deserved","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-we","11":"tag-deserved"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}