Odion Ighalo is unhappy with the treatment of Maduka Okoye and Francis Uzoho by the Nigerian fans.
The two young goalkeepers have received heavy criticisms from the fans and media, following their consecutive errors in the African Cup of Nations and FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Okoye suffered abuses after his error helped Tunisia overcome Nigeria in Afcon round of 16 clash with Tunisia, while Uzoho got the same treatment after allowing Thomas Partey weak effort beat him in the World Cup qualification playoff.
“I felt sad about all the abuse [directed at Okoye and Uzoho],” Ighalo told ESPN in an interview.
“I know Nigerians always want to win, but these are young boys.”
“One mistake is not the end of the world. People tend to forget that footballers are humans too. We cannot destroy the confidence of these boys because of one mistake.
The Al Hilal forward is convinced the duo are good goalkeepers and pleaded with Nigerians to give them more time.
“Okoye is a good goalkeeper. Uzoho is a good goalkeeper and they will grow and learn from this experience. But they need support,” He said.
Meanwhile, Ighalo is yet to decide is international future and will wait for the new coach to be appointed before making a decision.
