{"id":17368,"date":"2026-11-13T23:31:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T23:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/13\/chelle-addresses-ilenikhena-okoye-omissions\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T23:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T23:31:46","slug":"chelle-addresses-ilenikhena-okoye-omissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/13\/chelle-addresses-ilenikhena-okoye-omissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelle addresses Ilenikhena, Okoye omissions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, addressed the omissions of George Ilenikhena and Maduka Okoye from Nigeria\u2019s squad ahead of the 3-1 win over Tanzania in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Uyo on Friday, citing injury in the striker\u2019s case and team balance in the goalkeeper\u2019s.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Chelle said Ilenikhena\u2019s absence was down to a fitness problem and urged critics to stay calm. The former Monaco striker scored on his debut in the 2-1 win over Madagascar in Uyo during the September international break, which had raised questions over his exclusion.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI am surprised, like you know, I am not on social media. Some people send me lots of things. I am surprised because there are no questions about the group and the players,\u201d Chelle said.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cFor example, I saw lots of people speak about why George Ilenikhena is not here. Do you know that he has an injury? Before, some of you did not know. I think everybody needs to stay calm.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>He added that he was ready to take responsibility for results. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI have the responsibility and if I have to take my responsibility, I will take it. If we win, this is the players, and if we lose, this is my responsibility, and I totally agree with that,\u201d he said.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>On Okoye, Chelle made clear that the Udinese goalkeeper had not been shut out of the team, though he chose Francis Uzoho, Stanley Nwabali and Arthur Okonkwo ahead of him.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMaduka Okoye is in the national team. I made the choice like the other players. The national team is not closed to him or them. I made my choice,\u201d he said.<\/em> <\/p>\n<div class=\"read-also\">\n<header>Related News<\/header>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>The coach said the decision went beyond performances on the pitch. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWhen I made my choice, it was based on what happened on the pitch and around it. We need to have a good position in the group. How do we feel within that group? What happened on the pitch and around it informed my choice. I have a tactical approach, and I tried to make the best decision,\u201d he added.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>Okoye, a former Watford goalkeeper, has struggled for bottom-placed Udinese this season, keeping one clean sheet and conceding 25 goals in 11 Serie A appearances. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>He also faced criticism for reporting late to the national team camp in September.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p><em>With Ilenikhena and Victor Osimhen unavailable, Chelle\u2019s side still got the job done against Tanzania, with substitute Tolu Arokodare scoring twice to lift Nigeria to second in Group L with six points. The Super Eagles return to face Tanzania at the Amaan Stadium, Zanzibar, on Tuesday, November 17.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p>Source: <\/p>\n<div class=\"nSourse\">Punch Newspapers &#8211; Latest News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, addressed the omissions of George Ilenikhena and Maduka Okoye from Nigeria\u2019s squad ahead of the 3-1 win over Tanzania in the 2027 Africa Cup&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17368","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=17368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}