Group Technical Director of Italian Serie A side, Udinese, Gianluca Nani, has said that it is almost impossible to score against Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye during training.
According to him, it was for this reason that the goalkeeper was immediately restored to the starting line-up for Monday evening’s Serie A encounter against US Cremonese after his suspension.
Okoye was suspended for two months over betting issues, with the former Watford man missing the first six games of the season.
Romanian goalkeeper Razvan Sava has been in his place, featuring in the club’s first six Serie A fixtures.
Okoye, who returned on Monday night, was commanding and showed no sign of rust despite being inactive at club level for roughly five months.
Nani, who spoke to reporters, according to DAZN, said that the Nigerian had been in outstanding form during training in the build-up to the fixture.
“Okoye has trained really well in recent weeks; it was almost impossible to score against him in training,” Nani said.
“We’re really happy he’s back because he’s our starting goalkeeper and there were never any doubts. But I want to thank whoever replaced him, who did very well.”
Okoye would be hoping to displace Stanley Nwabali from the position of Super Eagles’ number one goalkeeper in coming games, especially as Nigeria seek to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup through playoffs.