Can Super Eagles afford to ignore Maduka Okoye’s claim going into AFCON 2025?

The resurgence of Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye continued on Saturday afternoon as the Udinese goalkeeper put up another steady outing in their 2-0 win over Parma.

The clean sheet, his second in seven matches since reclaiming the No.1 shirt showed the growing confidence around him in Udine. He finished with one save inside the area, two high claims and eight recoveries, while his distribution, though still a work in progress at 52 percent accuracy, showed intent and authority.

The impact of his return has been obvious. Udinese have climbed to ninth on the Serie A table with 18 points, a noticeable shift from the period before he was restored to the lineup when the side managed just one clean sheet in six games. His penalty stop last weekend only added to the sense that the 25-year-old is quietly building his way back to his best.

The Super Eagles goalkeeper showdown ahead of AFCON 2025

Okoye has not featured for the Super Eagles since the June friendly against Russia, yet his current form is impossible to ignore. With AFCON 2025 around the corner, his consistency has begun to reopen discussions among the technical crew about Nigeria’s goalkeeping hierarchy.

Nigeria’s picture between the posts looks anything but settled. Stanley Nwabali’s heroics in the November shootout were widely praised, but his shaky moments during open play revived old concerns about concentration and positioning. Those lapses have given life to debates that many thought had been resolved after the last AFCON.

Amas Obasogie, once expected to push Nwabali, has slipped down the order after losing his place at Singida Black Stars, barely seeing minutes in Tanzania. 

The national team has lived this scenario before. Nwabali himself arrived at AFCON 2023 as an outsider and only became No.1 after Francis Uzoho’s struggles in the training camp. 

With Okoye’s form rising at the right time and the rest of the pack battling inconsistency, Chelle may face a late decision in a department where timing and confidence often matter more than reputation.