Super Eagles and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye was left disheartened following his side’s loss to Bologna in the Serie A yesterday, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 26-year-old was left on the bench in both of Nigeria’s games during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Gabon and DR Congo.
A brace from Tommaso Pobega and a 94th-minute strike from Federico Bernadeschi confined Udinese to their fifth league loss this season.
However, Okoye denied Riccardo Orsolini from twelve yards earlier in the game, but that didn’t matter much as his side were swept out of the way in front of their fans.
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Okoye delighted with penalty save
After the defeat against Bologna, the former Watford goalkeeper was delighted to have parried his first penalty in Serie A, but the final result left a bittersweet aftertaste.
“I’m happy for the penalty save, but not for the match, which we had started well anyway,” the 26-year-old said in quotes revealed by Udinese’s official website.
“That’s football: I saved a penalty, but then I made a mistake on the second goal.
“We have to move on and analyse the good and the least good things we do today.
“Are we the worst defence? We risk often; this is our football. We win, but we also lose like this. We need to improve on defence. I have to improve first.
“Mistakes are part of the game, but we have to reduce them. It’s important to learn from these mistakes.
“In football, the most important thing is the result, but we also want to play well.
“We have to stick together and think about the next game,” the Super Eagles goalkeeper concluded.
Okoye has now played in six consecutive league games since his return from a ban he served due to a betting scandal. So far, he’s kept just one clean sheet.