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Sports News of Thursday, 19 October 2023

Source: soccernet.ng

Atubolu vs Aniogboso: Who is best to solve Peseiro’s goalkeeper crisis at AFCON?

Jose Peseiro Jose Peseiro

The Super Eagles of Nigeria are currently grappling with a goalkeeping crisis as they prepare for the upcoming qualification tie against Lesotho in November and their 21st Africa Cup of Nations tournament, Soccernet.ng reports.

Recently, the name of young Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu emerged on social media as a potential solution to the goalkeeping issue.

A tweet from a Nigerian journalist, Oma Akatugba, revealed that he had a conversation with the Super Eagles’ coach about considering the Nigerian-descendant goalkeeper to represent the Super Eagles in their upcoming matches.

However, convincing Atubolu, who has played for the German U-21 squad, to switch allegiance and play for Nigeria could prove to be a challenge.

The criticism of Francis Uzoho, who made a costly error against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique, has led to calls for alternative goalkeeper options, despite Peseiro’s backing of the Omonia goalkeeper.

With AFCON 2023 Approaching: Atubolu or Aniagboso?

The limited time to prepare for the AFCON tournament poses a challenge, as switching Atubolu’s allegiance would require a longer process.

On the other hand, former Giant Brillars FC player Chijioke Aniagboso showed promise during the AFCON U-20 campaign, earning four clean sheets out of five, as well as an impressive performance as the World Cup youth tourney.

Peseiro invited him to the Super Eagles squad for the AFCON qualification doubleheader, but he is yet to make his debut.

Peseiro has not made a public decision regarding how to address the goalkeeping crisis, leaving fans eagerly anticipating the best solution for Nigeria as they aim to secure their fourth AFCON trophy.