Super Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr has singled out his goalkeeper Maduka Okoye for praise after Nigeria’s 0-0 draw with Sierra Leone in Freetown on Tuesday.

Rohr said he was specifically happy with the Germany-born goalkeeper for putting up some brave saves during the African Cup of Nations qualifying match.

Rohr picked Okoye ahead of the more experienced South African based Daniel Akpeyi and the 21-year-old repaid the trust by keeping his first clean sheet.

“It’s a long, long time that we had a goalless defence and we wanted to be solid after what happened in the second half the other day ” Rohr told the press after the game.

“I am especially very happy for our goalkeeper (Maduka Okoye) who showed to everybody that he is a good one.

“We have a young team, it was a shock the other day after the injury to Victor Osimhen, everybody was afraid, and today they wanted to fight for him, they did it, they fought very well.”

Speaking on Super Eagles chances of qualifying for AFCON, Rohr added “It’s not official but we are very close now to qualification, we also saw the result of Benin who played a draw in Lesotho.”

Kelechi Iheanacho headed home what would have been the match winner in the 67th minute but his effort was disallowed for offside.

Nigeria currently top the Group L on 8 points with Super Eagles next game coming up in March 2021 against Benin Republic and Lesotho.

DailyPost