AFCON Qualifiers: ‘He’s Better’ – Ikpeba Chooses Between Nwabali, Okoye

Former Nigeria international Victor Ikpeba has backed Stanley Nwabali as the better goalkeeper compared to Maduka Okoye for the Super Eagles.

Ikpeba made the assessment following Nigeria’s hard-fought 2-1 victory over Madagascar in their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Friday evening.

Okoye had started Nigeria’s previous two matches during the June friendly fixtures, but he was unavailable against Madagascar after arriving late for international duty.

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle had allowed the Udinese goalkeeper to delay his arrival in camp because of an event sponsored by his Italian club.

Speaking on SuperSport, Ikpeba praised Nwabali for his performance and confidence in goal, saying, “Credit to Nwabali, he’s the number one goalkeeper for the national team. In my opinion, he’s better than Maduka. People at home might disagree, but he’s the number one goalkeeper for the national team.”

Ikpeba also highlighted a crucial save by Nwabali, saying the goalkeeper showed “the belief, the determination, ‘I’m going to stop the lad’.” He added that the save prevented Nigeria from conceding a potentially decisive goal.

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“He prevented our embarrassment because at that moment, had it been 2-1, the match’s conclusion remains uncertain. The result might have concluded 2-2 or resulted in our defeat 2-1,” Ikpeba added.