NIGERIA:Vincent Enyeama about to enter 'century club'

25 May 2014 21:04:18
Legheri Onyamom
The countdown to Nigeria's
first player to win a century
of caps begins with
Wednesday's friendly against
Scotland in London, writes
Legheri Onyamom.
With so much attention on Vincent Enyeama
keeping a string of clean sheets in Ligue 1,
he remained virtually unnoticed as he joined
Joseph Yobo in the race for the first Nigerian
footballer to win a century of caps.
For some time the focus had been on Yobo
after he broke the record number of caps held
by the legendary Nwankwo Kanu in last
January's friendly against Cape Verde in
Faro, Portugal. Yobo played his 88th match
for Nigeria that night.
At the time, Yobo was not just the captain,
but also a regular in the Super Eagles and it
seemed only a matter of time for him to notch
up 12 more appearances to join the ranks of
distinguished footballers around the world to
have achieved this feat.
However, Yobo lost his place during the 2013
Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) to Kenneth
Omeruo, who coincidentally only made his
international debut in the game against Cape
Verde.
Yobo still played five games in South Africa,
though he was mostly used as a late
substitute.
Yobo’s influence in the side had begun to
wane and Stephen Keshi did not call him up
for the Confederations Cup and World Cup
qualifying matches after the Afcon.
With the issue of Nigeria's first 100-cap
player one of the most discussed in the days
and months that followed the 2013 Afcon,
there was a lot concern about Yobo's
absence from the team, but Keshi insisted
the former Everton defender was still his
captain. He said there was no need to invite
him and put him on the bench.
Yobo had fallen out of favour at Fenerbahce,
and knew his situation had to change to
have any chance of making it to Brazil. He
made it clear he wanted out at the Turkish
club and on deadline day of the January
transfer window, Yobo joined Norwich City
on loan till the end of the season.
Yobo was impressive in his first couple of
games for the East Anglia side and was
called up for the friendly in March against
Mexico. Unfortunately, he took a knock in
Norwich’s 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa and was
replaced in Nigeria's squad by Leon
Balogun.
His fitness remained an issue towards the
end of Norwich’s troubled season, but he
had done enough in the few appearances he
made to convince Keshi to include him in the
30-man preliminary squad to the World Cup.
Yobo's last cap, the 1-0 defeat of Burkina
Faso in the Afcon final, was his 93rd (often
wrongly reported to be his 95th by other
sources).
Enter Vincent Enyeama, who had 78 caps at
the time, into the picture.
Always quick to point out Yobo is still the
Super Eagles captain and still relevant in the
team, Enyeama has played 12 more times
since then to bring his appearances to 90,
just three behind Yobo.
He is the second most capped player in the
history of the Super Eagles, and from the
active ones, John Obi Mikel is a distant third
with 56 caps.
Like Yobo, Enyeama has also suffered
periods of estrangement from the national
team that may have prevented him from
reaching the milestone a little earlier.
He was frozen out of the entire 14 matches
Berti Vogts reigned as coach.
Vogts came to Nigeria with a goalkeeper
trainer, Uli Stein, who adjudged Austin Ejide
the best among the trio of regular
goalkeepers invited to camp that also
included Dele Aiyenugba. In fact, Enyeama
literally became the third choice.
He won his place back after Shuaibu Amodu
replaced Vogts, but lost out again in bizarre
circumstances under Samson Siasia.
Siasia relegated Enyeama permanently to the
bench after he, along with some other
players, strongly objected to flying in a
military plane provided by the NFF to
Madagascar for an Afcon qualifier.
He remained on the sidelines for five
matches before Siasia got his marching
orders for failing to qualify for the 2012
Afcon.
Like a cat with nine lives, Enyeama regained
the No 1 shirt when Keshi took over. Keshi's
goalkeeper trainer, Ike Shorunmu, who
Enyeama understudied and ultimately
displaced at the 2002 World Cup, wasted no
time in reinstating him as the undisputed first
choice.
Enyeama has played in 27 of the 35 matches
under Keshi, a remarkable tally considering
five of the games were restricted to home-
based players. It is even more remarkable
that a keeper in the class of Ejide has been
restricted to 30 caps in about 12 years
because they both belong to the same
generation.
With Yobo back in the frame, the big question
is who among them would reach the
milestone first. Once an active player
reaches his 90th cap, the countdown
inevitably begins. With both players in the
squad to face Scotland, the focus would be
on them for obvious reasons. Enyeama has
10 games to play while Yobo needs just
seven to reach the history making figure.
Nigeria will be involved in three friendlies
before the World Cup, where they would, at
least, be involved in another three group
games. After the World Cup, there are six
Afcon qualifying matches between
September and November.
This means the Eagles would at least be
involved in 12 more matches before the end
of the year. Enyeama, being the undisputed
number one, stands a better chance of
playing in all of these games than Yobo, who
is now a reserve for the younger duo of
Omeruo and Godfrey Oboabona.
Enyeama is most likely going to continue
with his international career after the World
Cup, while Yobo might just call it a day.
Therefore, if it is not settled by the end of the
World Cup then Yobo might just miss out.
Whichever way it goes, the race for Nigeria’s
first player to win a century of caps seems
set to go right down to the wire.
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