Palace teenage goalkeeper Owen Olamidayo Goodman eyes Eagles number one shirt

CRYSTAL Palace's teenage goalkeeper of Nigerian descent Owen Olamidayo Goodman looks all set to fight for the country's number one jersey after his mother recently posted a picture of her son in Nigeria's colours with the caption Super Eagles soon.

Already, Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro, invited Goodman to camp for Nigeria's friendly game against Portugal, which took place  on November 17. On October, Goodman was promoted to the first team of English Premier League side Crystal Palace from their U21 squad by manager Patrick Viera and now dreams big.

Goodman, 18, is eligible to represent Nigeria, Canada and England at international level and the Nigerian Football Federation has been watching his development closely. However, following his promotion to the Palace senior squad, Goodman revealed that he would play for Nigeria if invited to the Super Eagles squad.

Last week, his mother Abi Goodman, drove this message home further by uploading a picture of her son on social media wearing a Nigerian jersey, with the caption Super Eagles Soon. Although the young goalkeeper has represented Canada’s under-21 team, Nigeria is where his heart lies.

At the moment, Nigeria's two goalkeepers are not at their best and have been responsible for the team losing several games they should have won. Francis Uzoho of Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus and Maduka Okoye of Watford in the English Championship, have both been found wanting when it mattered.

Although Uzoho’s recent performance against Manchester United in the Europa League group stage match made headlines, his national team play, including his disaster against Ghana, cannot be simply ignored. As a result, the team’s goalkeeper coach and the technical staff are  looking for replacements.