Super Eagles of Nigeria goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye, has noted that Sergio Macron, the goalkeeping coach at his current club, Udinese, helped to bring his career back on track.
Maduka Okoye’s goalkeeping career started nosediving during his days at Watford and got worse on the international scene when he made a mistake that led to the Super Eagles’s exit from the 2021 AFCON in the round of 16.
Since then, he has not been able to regain his starting shirt in the national team but has been able to bounce back in his club career.
Recall that Maduka Okoye spent half of the 2022-2023 season on loan at Sparta Rotterdam because he couldn’t play regularly at EFL Championship side Watford.
The 24-year-old goalkeeper finally got his career on track when he moved to Italian Serie A side, Udinese, on August 24, 2023. Since then, he has become a regular for the club which he helped to escape relegation last season.
“As soon as I step on the pitch, I am always confident. But, of course, there are good and bad days. The art is to have as many good days as possible and fewer mistakes. Therefore, I am glad to have Sergio Macron as my goalkeeping coach,” Maduka Okoye told Tribal Football.
“My skill set after one year working under him is already much wider, he’s going into every little detail of my goalkeeping and makes sure that there’s improvement every day.”
Maduka Okoye was born in Germany to a German mother and a Nigerian father, which means that he was eligible to play for either country.
However, the 24-year-old goalkeeper chose to represent Nigeria under the tutelage of former Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr. He played his first game for the national team on October 13, 2019. Since then, he has made 16 appearances for the country.
When asked if he has always wanted to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, the goalkeeper said: “Yes, it has been always Nigeria for me, a childhood dream playing for the Super Eagles. Yes, Lutz played a big part in that… he was in good contact with Nigeria’s former coach Gernot Rohr; he opened that door for me.
“With Rohr, I had a fantastic coach in my early years as a Super Eagle, I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunities he gave me in that time!”
