Former Super Eagles coach Christian Chukwu has joined the debate on who is the best-ever goalkeeper Nigeria has produced.
The Nigeria legend admits it is a very tough task to choose a goalkeeper who stands out from the rest in the country looking at different generations.
Nigeria has in the past produced great goalkeepers like Peter Fregene, Emmanuel Okala, Best Ogedegbe, Joe Erico, Peter Rufai, Alloy Agu and Vincent Enyeama, to mention but a few.
In an exclusive chat with www.busybuddiesng.com, Chukwu, who captained the Green Eagles (now Super Eagles) to Nigeria’s first Africa Cup of Nations triumph in 1980, admitted that the country has produced great shot-stoppers who are all good in their own rights.
“It is a difficult question because there is a lot of good goalkeepers,” Chukwu said when asked who is the best-ever goalkeeper in Nigeria. “I don’t know where to start. Is it from my generation, after my generation and so on?
“We have a lot of them, I cannot say this is the best for now, but we have good goalkeepers. Those days we had (Peter) Fregene, we had (Emmanuel) Okala, we had Peter Rufai and so on and so forth. So, it is difficult.
“So, it is difficult to pinpoint one. (We also had) Joe Erico. It is difficult to point one and say ‘this is the best’,” the former Super Eagles coach said.
However, Chukwu described his former teammate at Rangers and the National team Emmanuel Okala as a ‘fantastic’ goalkeeper.
“Well, Okala was fantastic in goal those days, he did a lot of marvellous games. At times, it was Okala and the opponents. So, he was so good, He was good,” the 69-year-old Rangers great stressed.
