ENYEAMA IS NEXT AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.

Goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama should be the Next African Footballer of the Year barring no hiccups

ENYEAMA IS NEXT AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU.

Not since the days of Cameroonian legendary goalkeeper, Thomas Nkono and his other able deputies like Joseph Antoine Bell, Jacque Songo’o has Africa and the rest of the world seen such a performer in between the sticks.

The Indomitable Lions of Cameroun of old had such great names like Gregoire M’bida ,Roger Milla, Theophilous Abega,Victor akem N’dip, Francios Omam Biyik,Kana Andre Biyik,Cyrille Makanaky,Jean Claude Pagal,Benjamin Massing,Steven Tataw, Rigobert Song and of late Samuel Eto’o Fils yet it was to the goalkeeping department they looked up to for inspiration.

In the race to the 1990 World Cup ,The Cameroonianside had to use a Presidential Chartered jet to ferry  Thomas Nkono for the crucial second leg match against the  game some Super Eagles of Nigeria  which the former won by an odd goal en route to a  famous adventure at the World Cup in 1990 dubbed Italia 90.

At the 2014 World Cup which just ended in Brazil,Vincent Enyeama dive,parried,caught,cuddled  the ball as he kept many of the opponents  at bay while at the same time barking out orders of  instructions to his wall of Defense during the course of the one month soccer festivities as eh captured the imaginations of fans around the world.

Before now Nigerians had known such illustrious names like Inuwa Rigogo,Peter Rufai,Wilfred Agbonivbare,Emmanuel Okala,Peter Fregene,Ikeoluwa Shorunmu,Alloysious Agu among so many others but nobody gave any form of serious attention when ,Vincent Enyeama made his debut at the global level at the 2002 Senior World Cup for the Nigerian full national soccer squad, Super Eagles of Nigeria until he showed a lot of guts against the Three Lions of  England as he stopped the latter from coasting home leading to a barren draw.

Since then the Akwa-Ibom born goaltender has not looked back as poor defending and a combination of ferocious attacking by Nigeria’s opponents in major global and continental showpiece meant that he always had to be at his best as he was always harassed in goal.

In the 2010 World Cup, Nigeria lost tow of its games in the preliminary rounds yet Vincent Enyeama was Voted Man of the Match on two occasions out of the three matches the Super eagles played thus underlying his importance to the team.

In the just concluded 2014 World Cup held in Brazil, Vincent Enyeama’s brilliance contributed immensely to taking Nigeria to the second round of the competition before been booted out by France.

At the end of the First round ,Enyeama was voted the fifth overall best player and the best goalkeeper of the entire tournament in terms of individual performance.

Though his mistake was punished by the Les Bleus of France in the second round ,he was among the  11 goalkeepers nominated for the Golden gloves category of the World Cup in 2014.

3 goalkeepers were later shortlisted for the final draw as Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich, Germany was voted the best goalkeeper of the world.

Analysts were quick to point out that a goalkeeper is as good as his wall of Defense and that had Vincent Enyeama had the caliber of Players that  Manuel Neuer  had around him ,perhaps he could have won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament  aside from the golden gloves thus emulating Oliver Khan at the 2002 World Cup .

This past season ,:2013/2014 ,his excellent form in between the sticks for French Soccer giants, Lille Metro pole ensured a passage to the lucrative UEFA Champions League for 2014/2015 season..,He was picked as the best African player in France winning the Marc Vivienne Foe Award in the process.

He was also 2^nd best goalkeeper in the entire French Championnat,he has already been picked  as the 3^rd best African player by Jeune Afrique at the 2014 World Cup but his been more influential on the field of play at club level  than his rivals from Algeria means that barring no major hiccup ,Nigerian born International and Iconic goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama should soon be crowned as the next African Football of the Year.