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Maduka Okoye in action for Udinese. Copyright: Imago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Super Eagles<\/a> and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has received praise from the club’s technical director after his return to the Nigerian National team, Soccernet.ng reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n The 26-year-old opted against joining the Super Eagles AFCON 2025 squad, solely because he wasn’t guaranteed a starting spot in Morocco.<\/p>\n In Okoye’s absence, Eric Chelle’s men went on to claim the bronze medal, as Stanley Nwabali stood out in two consecutive penalty shoot-outs against Morocco and Egypt.<\/p>\n Get Our Sports News First \u2013\u00a0Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Scared to lose his place with his club side, the former Watford goalkeeper chose to continue with his club side while his national teammates were in Morocco.<\/p>\n After the AFCON tournament, Nwabali opted to part ways with Chippa United. Still clubless, he wasn’t called up to the National team for the March International break.<\/p>\n Nwabali’s loss became Okoye’s gain, and the Germany-born Nigerian was reinstated again, standing between the sticks against Iran, before he suffered a thigh injury that ruled him out of a clash against Jordan.<\/p>\n Udinese’s technical director, G\u00f6khan Inler, who won the English Premier League title with Leicester City, has weighed in on Maduka Okoye’s development after he got a call-up to the Super Eagles squad.<\/p>\n \u201cYou should ask him [Okoye] what we\u2019re doing. We are working closely together; a goalkeeper like him must always play at a very high level,\u201d the Swiss said in quotes revealed by Tutto Mercato Web<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe important thing is to talk individually with the players, so you can get deeper. With Maduka, it was like that, every week, with the goalkeepers’ trainer, with the coach, we’re working a lot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s important to give confidence to him, he has to give something in terms of communication, he’s slowly growing up, he’s also gone to the national team, he knows he has to prove in every game.<\/p>\n \u201cI always keep up with him. When I see signs in the opposite direction, I have to direct them immediately because there are still 8 games and I want to do better than last year,\u201d the 41-year-old concluded.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Maduka Okoye has kept six clean sheets for Udinese in 22 league games, helping the Bianconeri<\/em> to 11th on the Serie A table.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/thumbor\/E_LgVfdrIc4bkLlpN3RNI_Txv10=\/1024x683\/smart\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.soccernet.ng%2Fmain%2F2025%2F11%2Fimago1068580335-1.jpg\")
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