APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus goalkeeper, Francis Odinaka Uzoho has come out with a spiritual angle to his return to the starting line-up of the Super Eagles, as he attributed the revival to ‘Christ Alone,’ megasportsarena.com reports.
The former Deportivo La Coruna and Elche of Spain shot-stopper stated as much after keeping a clean slate in the Eagles’ 3-0 victory over Lesotho at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos on Tuesday, which he described as a historic comeback for himself.
In the wake of the encounter, during which he was hardly tested but pulled off a couple of reflex saves in the first half, Uzoho added that he was truly delighted to return to action for the Eagles after 17 months in the international wildness.
The tall keeper, who has seven clean sheets in 17 appearances for the Eagles, is now bracing for an intense battle heading into the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations in search of a return to his previous position as Nigeria’s number one in goal, which has of recent been taken over by Sparta Rotterdam of Holland’s Emil Maduka Okoye.
Uzoho, who suffered a fracture of the meniscus and the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee during Nigeria’s 1-1 draw with Brazil in an international friendly held in Singapore on October 2019, added that he was delighted being part of Nigeria’s squad that got a 3-0 win in their final AFCON 2022 qualifier on Tuesday.
The injury he copped against Brazil kept Uzoho on the sidelines for the 2019/20 campaign, but he has returned to full fitness this season and his run of 11 games in all competitions for his club earned him recall to the Eagles for the AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho, which he described as miracle of sort.
Uzoho took to social media to reveal his thoughts after Tuesday’s victory in Lagos, and the 22-year-old netminder posted: “Happy to be back with the team after close to 2years out IN CHRIST ALONE.”
