Stanley Nwabali, the goalkeeper for the Nigerian national football team, shared his thoughts on the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and his competition for the number one spot with Maduka Okoye.
Nwabali is gearing up for a crucial match against South Africa. “The last time we faced them was at the AFCON.
This is World Cup qualifiers and I would not say the last game gave us an edge over them.
It really gives us another motivation to play against them on the 7th,” he said.
The goalkeeper is looking forward to the match, especially playing in front of the home crowd.
“It’s going to be a great game for me. I really like playing in front of these fans and playing the home game like this in front of the fans gives me enough energy and motivation to do very well in this upcoming game,” he added.
Despite the high stakes, Nwabali insists there’s no pressure. “We’ll try to just put ourselves together and just try to win this game and move on to our next game against Benin Republic.
I don’t think there is much pressure in the camp because as you can see the players are training very hard and just pushing,” he explained.
For Nwabali, playing in the World Cup would be a dream come true. “It’s gonna be a nice, great feeling for me also. And also for my CV, to be honest,
I really wish to play in the World Cup. I enjoyed that atmosphere at the AFCON. So I really want to test for the World Cup also.
I only watched from behind these past years ago, but I really want to be part of the team going to the World Cup,” he shared.
As for his competition with Maduka Okoye for the number one spot, Nwabali is not feeling the pressure.
“I have watched a couple of Maduka’s games, he’s a very good goalkeeper, to be honest. And he is also my brother,” he concluded.
