Maduka Okoye has lamented Nigeria’s failure to secure a place at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, but is confident he will get the chance to represent the country at the mundial in future.
The Super Eagles failed at the last hurdle in the qualifiers, losing out to eternal rivals, the Black Stars of Ghana.
Okoye missed out on both games after testing positive for COVID-19 few days to the qualifiers.
The former Fortuna Dusseldorf of Germany goalkeeper is one of the youngest players in the Super Eagles’ squad.
The 22-year-old believes he still has age on his side and could appear at three World Cups before winding down his career.
“Unfortunately, the World Cup dream has burst for now,” Okoye told Transfermarkt.
“But if I calculate correctly, I can still qualify for at least three world championships with the team given my age. That’s why I don’t stress about it at all.
“It’s a shame, of course, because it’s a huge opportunity that you’re missing out on. But I don’t see that as a problem, but as a reason to work even harder because it wasn’t enough now.
“I am very sure that we will do it again,” he added.
Okoye made his Super Eagles debut in the friendly against five-time world champions, Brazil in October 2019.
The young goalie replaced Francis Uzoho in the second half of the thrilling encounter, which ended in a 1-1 draw.
He has been capped 16 times by Nigeria.
