Michael Atata’s route to the Super Eagles has been built largely away from the attention that follows Nigeria’s Europe-based goalkeepers.
The 20-year-old Ikorodu City goalkeeper was one of the standout performers in the 2025/26 Nigeria Premier Football League season, finishing with a league-high 16 clean sheets from 32 appearances to claim the Golden Glove. His performances helped keep Ikorodu City in the continental qualification race until the final day of the campaign.
By April, Atata had already established himself at the top of the NPFL clean-sheet standings. Eric Chelle also watched him in person during Ikorodu City’s 3-1 victory over Wikki Tourists in May as part of the Super Eagles coach’s scouting of domestic players. Atata was subsequently included in Nigeria’s squad for the Unity Cup in London, where he trained alongside Francis Uzoho and Arthur Okonkwo but did not make his senior international debut.
His latest invitation therefore represents another opportunity rather than a sudden breakthrough. Chelle has named Atata alongside Stanley Nwabali and Finland-based Samuel James among the three goalkeepers for Nigeria’s October 6 friendly against Russia at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium. Ikorodu City teammate Aderemi Adeoye is also included in the experimental 24-man squad.
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Speaking to Sports247 after the invitation, Atata admitted the call still caught him by surprise despite having previously been around the national team.
“It came as a surprise, but representing Nigeria has always been my dream,” Atata said, adding that he had continued preparing himself for whenever another opportunity arrived.
The goalkeeper has also continued to make his case at club level. Ikorodu City defeated defending champions Rangers 2-0 in their latest home meeting, another clean sheet for a player whose consistency between the posts was one of the defining features of the club’s previous campaign.
For Ikorodu City, the call-up also reflects the increasing visibility of a squad that has produced several players considered by the national-team coaches. Atata and Adeoye were both named for the Russia friendly, while Chelle’s previous NPFL scouting visits had also brought other Ikorodu City players into consideration. The club described the latest double invitation as a proud moment after the squad was announced.
Atata will still have to compete for minutes. Nwabali remains the most established goalkeeper in the Russia squad, while James is another player Chelle will want to assess in a friendly designed partly to test alternatives outside the group used in Nigeria’s recent AFCON qualifiers.
That competition does not change what the invitation represents for Atata. After a season in which no goalkeeper in the NPFL kept more clean sheets, he has another chance to show that strong performances in the domestic league can lead directly to the senior national team.
“I’m ready to give my all,” he told Sports247.
For Atata, the journey from protecting Ikorodu City’s goal in the NPFL to competing for a Super Eagles shirt has already begun. Russia could provide the next step.
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