Celebrated by fans after relegation
A farewell that Maduka Okoye could hardly have imagined more emotionally. On matchday 34 of the Dutch Eredivisie, the 22-year-old goalkeeper, who played for Bayer Leverkusen and Fortuna Düsseldorf in youth teams, will play with Sparta Rotterdam at Heracles Almelo. It’s about relegation and staying up – Willem II Tilburg and Fortuna Sittard are also in the draw. Sparta win 3-1 in Almelo and are saved, thanks in part to Okoye’s saves – and a goal from Lennart Thy. The opponent has to be relegated. After that, the number one of the Nigerian national team will be carried on the hands of the Rotterdam fans. It is his last game for Sparta, on July 1 he will move to Watford FC in England for 5 million euros.
“It really means everything to me and it was the biggest goal that I had this season to stay in class with Sparta and to leave the club with my head held high,” Okoye told Transfermarkt, who has known the Düsseldorf native since his first nomination for Nigeria, back then as a player in the Regionalliga West. He describes the exuberant party with relaxed emotions as “really outstanding, like in the film”. He “enjoyed it very much” and will remember it for the rest of his life.
At Sparta, for which Okoye has been playing since summer 2020 and where he has developed into one of the best keepers in the Eredivisie, he has long since achieved cult status. As “Goat” (Greatest Of All Time), he is celebrated on the club’s social media channels. An exclusive jersey is to come, the player is already being accepted into the club’s internal hall of fame. In the previous year, Sparta also owed it to his performances that the club almost made it into the European Cup for the first time since 1986. And now the relegation.
Okoye & Sparta knew it was going to be difficult – help from Watford
The team already knew before the season that it would be much more difficult in the famous, darn second year: “You’re no longer the underdog, you’re no longer the ‘small club’, and the opponents were perhaps better prepared for us. That’s how it happened. It started out difficult, and that went on in several phases throughout the season.” However, Okoye emphasizes how the team held together in the final sprint and thus managed to stay up: “Again, we had an incredibly strong phase towards the end, which then also was decisive.” Of the last ten league games, only those against champions Ajax and fourth-placed FC Twente have been lost, and they have even won five times. More often than in the 24 games before.
Götze, Haller & Co.: The most valuable Eredivisie professionals
In being fit for these games, Okoye helped his future club. He traveled to Watford FC several times during the week due to shoulder pain: “For smaller units with the goalkeeping coach or the physios. It was great, really ‘next level’, what they did with me in such a short time, and I don’t even want to know what else can happen if I continue to train there at that level, what steps will then follow .” That increased the anticipation for the next chapter even more. “I’m really excited to see what happens next season.”
© DDS – At the last game of the season, Maduka Okoye gets support from friends, family and advisers
The “Hornets” had already announced the Nigerian’s commitment at the beginning of November 2021, Watford paid 5 million euros to Sparta – a record for the Dutch. Okoye doesn’t see the fact that the English have been relegated from the Premier League as a detriment, the possibility has already been dealt with openly in the talks: “I still have complete trust in the club and the plan that was presented to me and I can’t wait to get started .”
Maduka Okoye on the “burst dream” of the World Cup and the apartment search
So Okoye will have to wait a little longer for the Premier League – as well as for the dream of participating in the World Cup. The “Super Eagles” failed in qualifying against Ghana with national coach Otto Addo, who recently spoke in detail about his work and the tournament in Qatar in a TM interview.
The ex-Düsseldorfer remains realistic and optimistic at the same time, as is so often the case when you ask him about his future career: “Unfortunately, the World Cup dream has burst for now. 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.”
In the coming weeks Okoye will first have to find an apartment or a house in London. After the emotional farewell to Sparta Rotterdam, he wanted to tackle this as soon as possible: “So that I can start the preparations with Watford in peace.”
© DDS
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