Former Juventus F.C. goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi has praised Maduka Okoye, describing the Nigeria national football team shot-stopper as an excellent goalkeeper, Nigeriasoccernet.com reports.
Belardi’s comments followed Okoye’s impressive performance despite Udinese Calcio’s narrow 1–0 defeat to Juventus F.C. in a Serie A clash on Saturday.
Jeremie Boga netted the decisive goal, securing victory for Juventus, but Okoye’s performance between the sticks drew praise for his series of important saves.
Speaking with Calcio Udinese, Belardi commended the Nigerian international’s development while highlighting an area for improvement.
“Okoye is now an excellent goalkeeper. He just needs to improve his game management, because sometimes he plays too instinctively,” Belardi said.
“But he’s making progress. You can see that there’s a lot of work behind him and that he’s matured a lot.”
Okoye’s recent displays continue to underline his growing importance for Udinese as he develops into one of Nigeria’s key goalkeepers.