The 21-year-old has been honoured for his impressive debut campaign in the Dutch top-flight and his remarkable performances for the Castle Lords
Nigeria goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has been named Sparta Rotterdam’s Player of the Season for the 2020-21 campaign.
Okoye helped the Rotterdam outfit finish eighth in the Dutch Eredivisie last season with his eye-catching performances between the sticks.
After moving from German Bundesliga club Fortuna Dusseldorf on a permanent deal last July, the Super Eagles shot-stopper went on to make himself the preferred no. 1 – displacing Dutch duo Tim Coremans and Michael Fabrie.
He initially played for Sparta Rotterdam’s youth team between September and October, before he made his Eredivisie debut in a 4-1 defeat to Heerenveen on November 1.
Despite the disappointing start to life in the Dutch top-flight, Okoye made a name for himself with his record of 10 clean sheets in 29 league appearances.
The German-born goalkeeper received the prestigious award from ex-Sparta Rotterdam midfielder and coach Henk van Stee on Wednesday morning before he joined the team’s training.
“Supporters of Sparta Rotterdam were given the opportunity to vote for their Player of the Season, an election that was won by Maduka Okoye,” the club statement read.
“The goalkeeper, who played 28 league games and managed to keep his goal clean 10 times, received the prize this morning from Henk van Stee.”
Their eighth-place finish in the Eredivisie enabled the Castle Lords to participate in the Europa Conference League play-offs but they eventually lost to Feyenoord who sealed the sole qualification ticket.
Okoye, born in Dusseldorf, started his football career at Bayer Leverkusen academy between 2012 and 2017, he proceeded to Fortuna Dusseldorf to become a professional.
After several fruitless attempts by Nigeria to lure him to their national team, the 21-year-old finally yielded their call in August 2019 when he was invited for an international friendly match against Ukraine.
He made his debut two months later against Brazil in Singapore, after replacing the injured Francis Uzoho in the game that ended 1-1.
Okoye has become the Super Eagles first-choice goalkeeper having played in six of their last seven matches, and most recently featured in their double-header friendly against Cameroon in Austria.
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