{"id":99135,"date":"2026-04-06T13:21:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tv.guardian.ng\/?p=99135"},"modified":"2026-04-06T13:21:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:21:54","slug":"if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/","title":{"rendered":"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria&#8217;s No 1? | The Nutmeg"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"dailymotion-player\"><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/x1ee8e.js\" data-video=\"xa4eums\"><\/script><\/div><br><br><p>\nIs Nigeria&#8217;s Super Eagles goalkeeping crisis finally here? Stanley Nwabali impressed at AFCON 2023, but consistency has been an issue. Maduka Okoye&#8217;s return wasn&#8217;t entirely convincing against Iran, and Francis Uzoho has also struggled with consistency since 2018. Even Bayo Adarabioyo has yet to seize his opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>With several goalkeepers flattering to deceive, what&#8217;s the answer for Nigeria&#8217;s upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifiers? We&#8217;re diving deep into the Super Eagles&#8217; goalkeeping conundrum and exploring the way forward. What are your thoughts on who should be the undisputed number one?<\/p>\n<p>Let us know your expert opinion in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is Nigeria&#8217;s Super Eagles goalkeeping crisis finally here? Stanley Nwabali impressed at AFCON 2023, but consistency has been an issue. Maduka Okoye&#8217;s return wasn&#8217;t entirely convincing against Iran, and Francis Uzoho has also struggled with consistency since 2018. Even Bayo Adarabioyo has yet to seize his opportunities. With several goalkeepers flattering to deceive, what&#8217;s the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gam_disable_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1140,37964],"tags":[691,40692,917,948],"class_list":["post-99135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","category-top-video","tag-nigeria","tag-nwabali","tag-super-eagles","tag-the-nutmeg"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria&#039;s No 1? | The Nutmeg - GuardianTV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria&#039;s No 1? | The Nutmeg - GuardianTV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is Nigeria&#8217;s Super Eagles goalkeeping crisis finally here? Stanley Nwabali impressed at AFCON 2023, but consistency has been an issue. Maduka Okoye&#8217;s return wasn&#8217;t entirely convincing against Iran, and Francis Uzoho has also struggled with consistency since 2018. Even Bayo Adarabioyo has yet to seize his opportunities. With several goalkeepers flattering to deceive, what&#8217;s the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GuardianTV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T13:21:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tv.guardian.ng\/2026\/04\/Keeper.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"380\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"677\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abiodun Ogundairo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abiodun Ogundairo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Abiodun Ogundairo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7ea396ab9bae73d4845496dbad885f1\"},\"headline\":\"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria&#8217;s No 1? | The Nutmeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T13:21:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":119,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Keeper.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\",\"Nwabali\",\"Super Eagles\",\"The Nutmeg\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\",\"Top Video\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/\",\"name\":\"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria's No 1? | The Nutmeg - GuardianTV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Keeper.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T13:21:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Keeper.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Keeper.png\",\"width\":380,\"height\":677,\"caption\":\"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria's No 1? | The Nutmeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria&#8217;s No 1? | The Nutmeg\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/\",\"name\":\"GuardianTV\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GuardianTV\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/5SUudJ8m-oZUN2RNk-Logo-white.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/5SUudJ8m-oZUN2RNk-Logo-white.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"GuardianTV\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7ea396ab9bae73d4845496dbad885f1\",\"name\":\"Abiodun Ogundairo\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/author\\\/abiodun\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria's No 1? | The Nutmeg - GuardianTV","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria's No 1? | The Nutmeg - GuardianTV","og_description":"Is Nigeria&#8217;s Super Eagles goalkeeping crisis finally here? Stanley Nwabali impressed at AFCON 2023, but consistency has been an issue. Maduka Okoye&#8217;s return wasn&#8217;t entirely convincing against Iran, and Francis Uzoho has also struggled with consistency since 2018. Even Bayo Adarabioyo has yet to seize his opportunities. With several goalkeepers flattering to deceive, what&#8217;s the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/","og_site_name":"GuardianTV","article_published_time":"2026-04-06T13:21:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":380,"height":677,"url":"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tv.guardian.ng\/2026\/04\/Keeper.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Abiodun Ogundairo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Abiodun Ogundairo","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/"},"author":{"name":"Abiodun Ogundairo","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#\/schema\/person\/a7ea396ab9bae73d4845496dbad885f1"},"headline":"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria&#8217;s No 1? | The Nutmeg","datePublished":"2026-04-06T13:21:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/"},"wordCount":119,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\/2026\/04\/Keeper.png","keywords":["Nigeria","Nwabali","Super Eagles","The Nutmeg"],"articleSection":["Sports","Top Video"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/","url":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/","name":"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria's No 1? | The Nutmeg - GuardianTV","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\/2026\/04\/Keeper.png","datePublished":"2026-04-06T13:21:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\/2026\/04\/Keeper.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\/2026\/04\/Keeper.png","width":380,"height":677,"caption":"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria's No 1? | The Nutmeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/if-not-nwabali-who-is-nigerias-no-1-the-nutmeg\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"If not Nwabali, who is Nigeria&#8217;s No 1? | The Nutmeg"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#website","url":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/","name":"GuardianTV","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#organization","name":"GuardianTV","url":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\/2026\/09\/5SUudJ8m-oZUN2RNk-Logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\/2026\/09\/5SUudJ8m-oZUN2RNk-Logo-white.png","width":600,"height":96,"caption":"GuardianTV"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/#\/schema\/person\/a7ea396ab9bae73d4845496dbad885f1","name":"Abiodun Ogundairo","url":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/author\/abiodun\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99136,"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99135\/revisions\/99136"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}