by Ifeanyi Ibeh
Africa has always produced good goalkeepers; the only problem is that they are not usually considered good enough for the European market since they are, in the opinion of most European coaches, not well trained in the art of goalkeeping.
There have been exceptions over the years though but all that looks set to change thanks to the exemplary performance of Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama so far at the ongoing World Cup, a tournament that has been marred by a series of goalkeeping errors most of which have been blamed on the tournament’s official ball, the infamous Jabulani.
English goalkeeper, Robert Green, was the first high profile casualty of the Jabulani when he parried Clint Dempsey’s shot into the back of his net in England’s 1-1 draw against the United States and he was soon followed by a host of other goalkeepers.
But Enyeama had before then reeled out an extensive lecture in the dying art of goal-keeping when he practically prevented the Argentines from dishing out a massive drubbing of the Super Eagles penultimate Saturday in Johannesburg.
The saves
The Argentines scored in the sixth minute of that game but in that short stretch of time, Lionel Messi had already had three clear attempts at goal that would have gotten the better of some of the sports more illustrious names from Europe and South America. But not this Nigerian goalkeeper who’s only known within Africa and Israel where he plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Messi continued to mesmerize the Nigerian defence and the Argentines went ahead to win the game, but it wasn’t the masterful display of the world’s best player or the antics of their charismatic coach Diego Maradona that the world was talking of after the game, but the breathtaking performance of the 27-year-old Enyeama.
So good was Enyeama that Messi, after the game, called him “phenomenal,” adding that “he was the one who made us suffer, because in football if you create chances and fail to convert them you can be punished.”
But the quiet and shy Enyeama humbly acknowledged after the game that it was simply a career highpoint for him, saying “It would be my best possible performance playing against the best possible player in the world, so it was my best.”
And, as is his practice, the prayerful Enyeama, who disclosed that he had studied numerous Messi match videos prior to the match, deflected all the attention onto a higher plane. “My secret lies with God,” he said. “Thanks to him I was able to do what I did today as he allowed me to stay calm under pressure.”
The error
Against Greece last Thursday, the curse of the Jabulani finally caught up with Enyeama when he spilled Alexandros Tziolis’ shot onto the path of Vasileios Torosidis to score the match winner for the Greeks but he still made more than enough saves to confirm his growing reputation as one of the world’s top goal guardians.
Before the Super Eagles departed for the World Cup, the team’s goalkeepers’ trainer Alloy Agu told NEXTSports that he was confident that “Enyeama will singlehandedly win points for Nigeria,” adding that the former Enyimba of Aba skipper “will prove to the world in South Africa that he should be playing his club football in one of Europe’s top leagues.”
Agu, who featured for clubs in Belgium, Holland and Turkey during his playing career, also said that it would come as a huge shock to him if after the World Cup Enyeama continues to ply his trade in the Israeli top flight. And it seems that may just be the case as Enyeama has caught the attention of a host of European club-sides most notably clubs in Russia, Spain and England.
The impending tussle
But it won’t be the first time Enyeama will be linked with a move away from Israel where he won a league and cup double last season, as he has in the recent past been reportedly linked with Arsenal whose manager Arsene Wenger was however deterred from bringing him to England after his Israeli club demanded for a two million euros transfer fee.
Wenger, who is in desperate search for a goalkeeper after the series of blunders committed by his goal minders last season, is reportedly back again for the services of Enyeama, but he will need to dole out much more than the earlier price requested by Hapoel this time around as Enyeama’s value has expectedly gone up.
Arsenal are not alone though, as West Ham, whose new manager is the Israeli Avram Grant, have also expressed an interest in purchasing Enyeama ahead of the new season, and will not have any problems meeting Hapoel’s four million euros valuation which, if it comes to pass, would become the largest amount ever paid for an Israeli league player.
