Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Dele Aiyenugba, has explained why a Nigeria Premier Football League goalkeeper shouldn’t be made Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper ahead of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Dele Aiyenugba, who helped the Super Eagles to win two AFCON bronze medals, stressed that the team does not have the luxury of time to boost the confidence of a home-based goalkeeper to become the team’s first-choice goalkeeper.
The 2023 AFCON will commence on January 13 and end on February 11. This means the Super Eagles have just a month and a couple of days to fix their goalkeeping issue.
The current coach Jose Peseiro’s first-choice goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho, is believed to be out of form, and most football enthusiasts in Nigeria are wondering why the coach continues to use him despite his consistent erroneous goalkeeping.
Maduka Okoye, a fellow countryman, and Udinese keeper has also taken a good deal of flak for errors.
The criticisms of Uzoho and Maduka have led goalkeepers in the NPFL, such as Amas Obasogie of Bendel Insurance, Kingdom Osayi of Doma United, Olorunleke Ojo of Enyimba, and Victor Sochima of Rivers United, to be tipped for a berth in the men’s national team.
The only member of the favoured home-based options who has not been invited to the team is Osayi, while the other goalkeepers have recorded a couple of national team call-ups.
Aiyenugba feels that with 37 days remaining to the commencement of the 2023 AFCON, the pressure of being the first choice will be too much for the home-based goalkeepers. He, however, added that the home-based goalkeepers should be named in the provisional squad list that will be submitted to CAF on December 14.
“The thing is that during our time, we were given the chance early to build our confidence. We had the home-based national team side then and we played several friendly matches. So, you start to gain confidence from there and you start to understand that it is different from the club side,” the retired goalkeeper told the Punch.
“To me, it’s kind of late to do that. The Nations Cup is barely a month and a half away. So, how do you groom a goalkeeper for that kind of assignment within that time? You keep inviting them (home-based keepers) and not trying them and you need a new goalkeeper. How many friendlies can they play now? So, I don’t know how they will do that.”
Dele Aiyenugba added: “This is the national team, it’s different from the club side and to keep for the national team, you must be 100 percent ready physically and mentally because you are bound to make mistakes. But it matters how you can overcome that and keep moving forward.”
