Fortuna Dusseldorf goalkeeper Maduka Okoye believes the Nigeria national team will achieve greater success under Gernot Rohr.
The 66-year-old was recently handed a new contract by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following the expiration of his previous deal with the West Africans.
Rohr has been in charge of the Super Eagles since 2016 after taking over from Sunday Oliseh and led the side to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Franco-German tactician also guided the three-time African champions to finish third in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nation in Egypt, having missed the previous two editions in 2015 and 2017.
The former Bordeaux manager has been mandated to qualify the Super Eagles for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and win the next Afcon title in 2021.
Okoye, who is excited with the renewal of Rohr’s contract, believes the Franco-German can achieve the feat, backing him to take the team to greater heights.
“I’m very happy with Rohr’s two-year contract extension. He’s a great coach and I think everybody feels very comfortable with him as a coach,” Okoye told the Punch.
“He talks a lot to us players and always cares. With him as a coach, we can achieve a lot of things in the near future.”
Okoye made his debut for the Super Eagles against Brazil in a friendly on October 2019 and was part of the 23-man squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game against Sierra Leone before the match was suspended due to the outbreak of coronavirus.
The German-born Nigerian goalkeeper started his career with Bayer Leverkusen in 2012, joining the youth team and spent five years with the side.
The 20-year-old moved to Fortuna Dusseldorf in 2017 but has only played 22 Regionalliga West games since his arrival.
The goalkeeper has recently been linked to a number of clubs in Belgium and Netherlands but has now confirmed negotiations with Dutch outfit Sparta Rotterdam.
“Yes. It’s true, we are in talks with Sparta Rotterdam. It’s a good club with a lot of history. Great stadium and even greater fans, this could be the next and a good step for me,” he added.
This season, the goalie has made 14 appearances for Fortuna, keeping two clean sheets and conceding 26 goals.
The goalkeeper will hope for more playing time before the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign.
