English-Born Netminder Carl Ikeme Professes His Love For Super Eagles, Fans

Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme has admitted that he was pleasantly surprised when he was called up to the Nigeria national team for their 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania.

The Sutton Coldfield native had lost his place in the first team of the Molineux Stadium outfit but was considered good enough by ex-Super Eagles manager Sunday Oliseh, with question marks surrounding the international future of Lille’s Vincent Enyeama.

“The timing of the Nigeria call-up was out of the blue a little bit. I wasn’t playing for Wolves at the time so it was a welcome distraction,” Ikeme told Wolves’ official webpage, wolves.co.uk.

“I have played seven times for them so far and that has been another highlight of the season as well as getting back in and making a lot of Wolves appearances.”

Ikeme could make his eighth and ninth appearances for the Super Eagles when they tackle Mali and Luxembourg in international friendlies over the next one week.

“Playing for Nigeria is something I love doing, in particular with the atmosphere and the love you get from the fans.

“We have two games in Paris against Mali and in Luxembourg over the next week and am looking forward to joining up with the team and hopefully getting two good results,” the Wolves number one concluded.

Carl Ikeme posted ten shutouts in 34 appearances for Wolves over the course of last season in the Championship.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel