Dual-national goalkeeper Noah Atubolu made a big statement on his international future shortly after breaking a Bundesliga record for the longest clean sheet streak by a Freiburg goalkeeper in the German top-flight.
By posting another shutout during Freiburg’s goalless draw against RB Leipzig on Saturday at the Europa-Park Stadion, Atubolu became the first Freiburg goalkeeper to go 510 minutes without conceding a goal, breaking the previous record held by club legend Richard Golz set in the 2001-2002 season.
The 22-year-old has not conceded a goal in 576 minutes of action—the fifth-longest clean sheet streak in Bundesliga history—having last conceded against Bayern Munich on January 25.
Born to a German mother and Nigerian father, Atubolu is eligible to represent the Super Eagles and the promising goalkeeper is known to be a player of interest to the Nigeria Football Federation.
Former Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro revealed before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations that it would be be challenging to convince him to switch to Nigeria due to his talent and prospects with the German national team.
With Germany’s March internationals against Italy approaching, Atubolu is among the Nigerian prospects being tracked by manager Julian Nagelsmann, alongside Eintracht Frankfurt’s rising center-back Nnamdi Collins.
Atubolu has caps for his country of birth at U17, U19 and U20 level, and has played in fifteen games for the U21 squad since making his debut for the age group in a European Championship qualifier against Latvia in March 2022.
Speaking to Sources after his record-breaking achievement on Saturday, Atubolu made it clear that his international future lies with Germany, saying that his big goal is to eventually debut for Die Mannschaft in the future.
In the past, the German Football Association won the recruitment battle for Jamal Musiala, Lukas Nmecha, Patrick Owomoyela, Dennis Aogo, Karim Adeyemi, Sidney Sam and Kevin Schade, while the Nigerian Federation successfully convinced Kevin Akpoguma and Jordan Torunarigha to switch their allegiance to the Super Eagles after playing for Germany’s youth teams.
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