… Says Enyeama can come back if he’s fit

By Jacob Ajom

WHO steps into the shoes of Carl Ikeme, Nigeria’s ailing goalkeeper who was diagnosed of acute leukaemia recently. The news hit Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, the Nigeria Football Federation and Nigerians generally so hard that there has been so much lamentation in the land.

It was worse because the development took the technical crew by surprise. To date, nobody except, perhaps, Rohr alone knows who is the number one choice to replace Ikeme.

Vincent Enyeama

A lot of names have been bantered in recent days. Some people have even gone to unearth long forgotten names like Dele Aiyenugba, who last kept for the national team in 2011. The former Super Eagles number one has been in Israel since 2009 and switched clubs last year to join Hapoel Ashkelon from fellow Israeli side Bnei Yehuda..

He kept last for the Eagles in an ill-fated 2012 AFCON qualifier against Guinea in Abuja. Nigeria needed a win to qualify for the tournament. After leading 2-1 at the Abuja National Stadium, Eagles defence capitulated and the Guineans equalised. “It was due to loss of concentration,” coach Siasia said after the match. But many Nigerians blamed the late goal on Aiyenugba.

Not many would give Aiyenugba a chance for a return to the national team.

Another option receiving a lot of mention is Vincent Enyeama, Nigeria’s best goalkeeper, after the days of the famous Peter Rufai, who retired after a bust up with former coach, Sunday Oliseh. The call for the return of Enyeama has grown so loud that former Nigeria captain, Nwankwo Kanu has volunteered to intervene to ensure the Akwa Ibom-born safe hands returns.

“Everybody has to get back to work, let us come together and beam our searchlight both within and outside our shores to get what we want and give Nigerians what they want,” national team goalkeepers trainer, Alloy Agu said in an interview with Saturday Vanguard Sports.

“We are looking outside and within, you never can tell, because that was how we also discovered Ikeme. In the interim, we are going to work with what we have, we should be able to fill in the gap and we are looking outside , maybe we can get one or two we can also bring in.”

Agu said among the local goalkeepers, they have been an encouraging number he could confidently put between the posts and go to sleep. “For now we have Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Daniel Akpeyi, Dele Alampasu has been in the team and we have other great ones who have been in the team; Afelukhai has been a national goalkeeper, we are looking at him, Dele Ajiboye too has been up and doing for the national team and for his club. We have a lot of them around to work with to make sure Nigeria does not have any problem in this area.”

On Vincent Enyeama, Alloy, a former Nigerian number one and one time captain said, “football is all about performance. It doesn’t matter how old you are it is all about performance. If you are on top of your game that means you will be relevant for your club and your national team. For Enyeama, his form is what is at stake and if he is on top of his game, of course, he is a Nigerian. But we are talking about performance not name. People have announced their retirements in the past and still came out of it. So, it’s all about decision making. If he is on top of his game, he is a Nigerian, who says he can’t come back? He has done well for Nigeria and served his country well, so there is nothing stopping him from playing for his country if he decides to.

“If he is performing well and ready to come, then he is welcome. It is a decision he took and no one, except himself that can change that decision.

“Another question is, ‘is he fit?’ We have to look at all those things. If he is not fit, then we can’t be talking about all this. Is he in pre-season with his club? If he is not fit he will be coming in to create problems for those who are coming in and those who have been in the team.”

If Enyeama comes back, would he agree to play under a captain who is probably younger than him in the team? We posed the question to Agu.

“That is all about decision making. That boils down to what you want to do for your nation. Nigeria comes first. You have to put Nigeria first before yourself. That shouldn’t be a problem if he decides to come back. If he has made a decision to play for Nigeria, captain or no captain won’t stop  him. I was captain of the national team and at a point the captainship was taken away from me, but I continued keeping for the national team. It was not about me it was about Nigeria. You are talking about 180 million people you are representing. So they come first. Nigeria come first.”