Rohr Makes Decision On 23-Man Squad For AFCON Qualifiers

Head coach of the Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, has confirmed Sparta Rotterdam’s Maduka Okoye as his first-choice goalkeeper ahead of South Africa-based Daniel Akpeyi and APOEL FC’s Francis Uzoho.

In just a couple of days, the 23-man squad for the qualifiers will be released and the Franco-German said the Sparta Rotterdam shot-stopper would be the first choice going into those set of matches.

“Number one is Maduka,” Rohr told ESPN. “These decisions, I take them with goalkeeper coach Alloy Agu because he is a specialist for goalkeeper training.

“I and Alloy, we agreed that it’s actually Maduka. We have the experienced Daniel Akpeyi doing good matches with his club in South Africa.

“We have the young Francis Uzoho coming back after injury, but he has to play also now, not only on the bench. We have also Matthew Yakubu. There’s a good potential now because this position was a big problem for us, so we have more now.”

Nigeria face Benin in their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on March 22, before welcoming Lesotho to the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos for their final group game on March 30.