Maduka Okoye Makes Social Media Post After Missing Eric Chelle’s Super Eagles Squad
- Eric Chelle has announced his final 23-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later this month
- There were some high-profile omissions in the Super Eagles squad, including captain Ahmed Musa
- Goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has made a post on his Instagram page after he was left out of Chelle’s squad
Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has made a post on his social media page after he was left out of Eric Chelle’s final 23-man squad for the March international break.
Nigeria will face Rwanda and Zimbabwe in matchdays five and six of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as they hope to turn around their poor start to the campaign.
Chelle, last week, announced a voluminous 39-man squad, raising concerns from Nigerians as to why he needed that much with just two weeks to the resumption of camp.
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As seen on Super Eagles’ X account, the list has now been trimmed down to the final 23, and some notable omissions have elicited reactions by fans on social media.
16 players were dropped, including some of the new invitees and big-name regulars, including captain Ahmed Musa and Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye.
Okoye reacts to Super Eagles’ snub
There were doubts about whether Okoye would make the list, and, alas, Chelle preferred Tanzania-based Amas Obasogie and NPFL goalkeeper Kayode Bankole over him.
The German-born goalkeeper took to his Instagram page and shared pictures of himself recently in action for Udinese during their 1-1 draw against SS Lazio.
He captioned the images “back in the bih #40”, with the third image having a message from an undisclosed person written in German, which translates to “the whole Dusseldorf is behind you, brother.”
His post is not a direct response to his omission from the Super Eagles squad, but the timing suggested he was trying to pass a message after completing 90 minutes but was snubbed for ‘fitness’ reasons.
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It was his first match since December, having been out injured due to a finger problem and also faced different off-field problems which could have gotten him suspended.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, he was investigated after a betting company flagged unusual betting patterns during Udinese’s 1-1 draw against Lazio when he was booked for time-wasting in the 64th minute.
His legal representative denied all wrongdoing, claiming the accusations are unfounded. If found guilty, he could face suspension from football and all related activities for four years.
Weeks later, the goalkeeper got into another scandal in Italy after he was caught driving an unregistered car with no driver's license nor insurance, and he was fined as a result.
Players Chelle shouldn't have dropped
Legit.ng analysed players that should have been included in Super Eagles' 23-man squad after Eric Chelle dropped 16 players from his initial 39-man provisional squad.
Ahmed Musa was one of the players overlooked who could have been drafted in for reasons of experience and leadership, which was praised during AFCON 2023.
