{"id":16361,"date":"2026-11-12T20:30:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T20:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/12\/afconq-why-i-didnt-invite-maduka-okoye-chelle\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T20:30:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T20:30:47","slug":"afconq-why-i-didnt-invite-maduka-okoye-chelle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/12\/afconq-why-i-didnt-invite-maduka-okoye-chelle\/","title":{"rendered":"AFCONQ: Why I didn\u2019t invite Maduka Okoye \u2013 Chelle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"AFCONQ:<\/p>\n

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has explained his decision to leave goalkeeper Maduka Okoye out of Nigeria\u2019s squad for their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying matches.<\/p>\n

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Chelle, who is preparing the Super Eagles for their double-header against Tanzania, said his selection decisions were based on considerations both on and off the pitch.<\/p>\n

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The Franco-Malian tactician insisted that the national team was not obligated to any particular player, stressing that his choices were guided by his assessment of what was best for the squad.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe national team is not close to him or anyone. I made my choice and when I made my choice I made it around the pitch and outside it,\u201d Chelle said.<\/p>\n

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Okoye, who plays for Italian club Udinese, has been absent from recent Super Eagles selections, with Stanley Nwabali, Francis Uzoho and Arthur Okonkwo among the goalkeepers considered by the coach.<\/p>\n

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Chelle\u2019s latest comments underline his position that selection for the national team is based on his technical and other considerations rather than a player\u2019s reputation or status.<\/p>\n

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The Super Eagles are seeking to strengthen their position in the AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign as they prepare to face Tanzania in two crucial Group L encounters.<\/p>\n

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Vanguard News<\/a><\/p>\n

The post AFCONQ: Why I didn\u2019t invite Maduka Okoye \u2013 Chelle<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has explained his decision to leave goalkeeper Maduka Okoye out of Nigeria\u2019s squad for their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying matches. Chelle,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16362,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}