Despite all of his achievements and his experience, it has felt, at times, like Stephen Keshi is only waiting for an excuse to find an upgrade on long-time stopper Vincent Enyeama. At various, crucial points in recent memory, the Super Eagles boss has turned to Austin Ejide to step in to replace the Lille keeper,
creating the impression that the Big Boss sees Ejide as Nigeria’s eventual Number One. It is fascinating to imagine how things might have been at the 2013 Cup of Nations had Ejide not suffered an injury in a pre-tournament clash with Cape Verde. Ejide had taken his place in the starting line-up, and was impressing, before his hamstring let him down. Speculation at the time pointed to Ejide taking over as the team’s Number One in South Africa. He did head to the tournament, but concerns about his fitness meant that Enyeama was reinstalled between the posts and Ejide was forced to watch on, unused, as his compatriots made history. Ejide: Waiting in the Wings Enyeama delivered a handful of terrific performances during the competition and was named in the Team of the Tournament. It looked like Ejide would have to bide his time a little longer. However, despite Enyeama’s reestablishment as the Super Eagles’ Number One, his deputy continues to breathe down his neck and earn Keshi’s praise. A year ago, the head coach responded to Ejide’s performance in a friendly against Venezuela by advocating the Israel-based stopper as a potential skipper for the side. Indeed, only this summer, Goal Nigeria’s Sam Ade Oguns reported Keshi’s gushing support for his backup keeper. Keshi said: “One good thing about Ejide is that he is just a professional person. I remember his wedding was initially fixed for June this year but he moved the wedding to July because of the Fifa Confederations Cup and World Cup qualifiers. So how patriotic can a player be again.” If the Big Boss does want to examine Ejide, or even experiment with the Hapoel Be’er Sheva man as his primary goalkeeper, then now needs to be the time to start. If this weekend’s play-off second leg against Ethiopia transpires with Enyeama between the posts, then Keshi would be left with no more competitive games in which to assess Ejide. It would then require a calamitous turn of form from Enyeama for him to be removed as Nigeria’s incumbent custodian. The Incumbent Custodian However, should we really be having this conversation at all? When we recall Enyeama’s blunders, such as those in high-profile games against Liberia and Uruguay for example, and consider Ejide as a potential replacement, are we not doing him a disservice? Sometimes I fear that we actually possess a fantastic keeper, one of Africa’s finest, and don’t actually give him the credit he rightfully deserves. Just consider his current form. The stopper has just secured his seventh consecutive clean sheet for Lille. Naturally, such an achievement is the work of an entire defence, if not a team, rather than simply a goalkeeper, but Enyeama’s form, not least his management of those in front of him, has been exceptional. In their 2-0 defeat of Monaco he was at his best to keep the likes of Emmanuel Riviere and Radamel Falcao at bay. These are tests and challenges that will persistently improve his own responses, ensuring that he arrives at Brazil next summer at the top of his game. Lille’s Rio Mavuba even joked that the team had “Jesus in goal” How Keshi will love the idea of that! Beyond his abilities as a custodian, Enyeama contributes a great deal to the squad and to the first XI. In this post-Joseph Yobo era, the Lille keeper is the squad’s most capped individual. He currently holds 86 appearances for the Super Eagles, a record that puts him over thirty caps ahead of John Obi Mikel, the squad’s second-most capped player, and joint third in the nation’s all-time appearances record. If he plays against Ethiopia on Saturday, he will leave Mudashiru Lawal in his wake and find himself tied in second place with Nwankwo Kanu. Few would bet against him at least tying Yobo’s record of 95 caps sometime in 2014. Is Ejide set to be thebridesmaid once again? As well as sheer appearances, he also has tournament experience, and considerably more than anyone else in the current squad. The last senior squad for a major competition that Enyeama didn’t make was the Cup of Nations in 2002, since the World Cup of that same year he has never missed a selection. The Brazil World Cup will be his ninth major tournament with Nigeria. This record may well be equalled by Ejide, but consider this, while Enyeama has played for the Super Eagles at four tournaments, his deputy has only featured in one, the Cup of Nations in 2008. Some of his brave performances at the last Afcon demonstrated, to the watching world, exactly how Enyeama’s experience and big game confidence inspire and affect the young defence ahead of him. Crucially, he has displayed an ability to absorb hardship and then emerge from it a stronger man. Consider his initial struggles in France; it took a loan move back to Israel, and a year of enforced self-belief, before Enyeama became one of Ligue 1’s finest stoppers. Some men would struggle to overcome such initial disappointment, and might accept life in the shadows, content with being a bit-part player or earning their keep in a second-rate league. Not Vincent. Over the course of a World Cup, and indeed, even in the high-intensity friendlies that serve as the prelude to the tournament proper, the road will be bumpy and Keshi’s elect will be tested to their limits. Enyeama’s tournament experience, his ability to respond to trauma, and his current form, could well prove to be invaluable.
creating the impression that the Big Boss sees Ejide as Nigeria’s eventual Number One. It is fascinating to imagine how things might have been at the 2013 Cup of Nations had Ejide not suffered an injury in a pre-tournament clash with Cape Verde. Ejide had taken his place in the starting line-up, and was impressing, before his hamstring let him down. Speculation at the time pointed to Ejide taking over as the team’s Number One in South Africa. He did head to the tournament, but concerns about his fitness meant that Enyeama was reinstalled between the posts and Ejide was forced to watch on, unused, as his compatriots made history. Ejide: Waiting in the Wings Enyeama delivered a handful of terrific performances during the competition and was named in the Team of the Tournament. It looked like Ejide would have to bide his time a little longer. However, despite Enyeama’s reestablishment as the Super Eagles’ Number One, his deputy continues to breathe down his neck and earn Keshi’s praise. A year ago, the head coach responded to Ejide’s performance in a friendly against Venezuela by advocating the Israel-based stopper as a potential skipper for the side. Indeed, only this summer, Goal Nigeria’s Sam Ade Oguns reported Keshi’s gushing support for his backup keeper. Keshi said: “One good thing about Ejide is that he is just a professional person. I remember his wedding was initially fixed for June this year but he moved the wedding to July because of the Fifa Confederations Cup and World Cup qualifiers. So how patriotic can a player be again.” If the Big Boss does want to examine Ejide, or even experiment with the Hapoel Be’er Sheva man as his primary goalkeeper, then now needs to be the time to start. If this weekend’s play-off second leg against Ethiopia transpires with Enyeama between the posts, then Keshi would be left with no more competitive games in which to assess Ejide. It would then require a calamitous turn of form from Enyeama for him to be removed as Nigeria’s incumbent custodian. The Incumbent Custodian However, should we really be having this conversation at all? When we recall Enyeama’s blunders, such as those in high-profile games against Liberia and Uruguay for example, and consider Ejide as a potential replacement, are we not doing him a disservice? Sometimes I fear that we actually possess a fantastic keeper, one of Africa’s finest, and don’t actually give him the credit he rightfully deserves. Just consider his current form. The stopper has just secured his seventh consecutive clean sheet for Lille. Naturally, such an achievement is the work of an entire defence, if not a team, rather than simply a goalkeeper, but Enyeama’s form, not least his management of those in front of him, has been exceptional. In their 2-0 defeat of Monaco he was at his best to keep the likes of Emmanuel Riviere and Radamel Falcao at bay. These are tests and challenges that will persistently improve his own responses, ensuring that he arrives at Brazil next summer at the top of his game. Lille’s Rio Mavuba even joked that the team had “Jesus in goal” How Keshi will love the idea of that! Beyond his abilities as a custodian, Enyeama contributes a great deal to the squad and to the first XI. In this post-Joseph Yobo era, the Lille keeper is the squad’s most capped individual. He currently holds 86 appearances for the Super Eagles, a record that puts him over thirty caps ahead of John Obi Mikel, the squad’s second-most capped player, and joint third in the nation’s all-time appearances record. If he plays against Ethiopia on Saturday, he will leave Mudashiru Lawal in his wake and find himself tied in second place with Nwankwo Kanu. Few would bet against him at least tying Yobo’s record of 95 caps sometime in 2014. Is Ejide set to be thebridesmaid once again? As well as sheer appearances, he also has tournament experience, and considerably more than anyone else in the current squad. The last senior squad for a major competition that Enyeama didn’t make was the Cup of Nations in 2002, since the World Cup of that same year he has never missed a selection. The Brazil World Cup will be his ninth major tournament with Nigeria. This record may well be equalled by Ejide, but consider this, while Enyeama has played for the Super Eagles at four tournaments, his deputy has only featured in one, the Cup of Nations in 2008. Some of his brave performances at the last Afcon demonstrated, to the watching world, exactly how Enyeama’s experience and big game confidence inspire and affect the young defence ahead of him. Crucially, he has displayed an ability to absorb hardship and then emerge from it a stronger man. Consider his initial struggles in France; it took a loan move back to Israel, and a year of enforced self-belief, before Enyeama became one of Ligue 1’s finest stoppers. Some men would struggle to overcome such initial disappointment, and might accept life in the shadows, content with being a bit-part player or earning their keep in a second-rate league. Not Vincent. Over the course of a World Cup, and indeed, even in the high-intensity friendlies that serve as the prelude to the tournament proper, the road will be bumpy and Keshi’s elect will be tested to their limits. Enyeama’s tournament experience, his ability to respond to trauma, and his current form, could well prove to be invaluable.
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