The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has reportedly begun moves to bring back Super Eagles captain cum goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama into the national team.
According to an online sports platform, OwnGoalNigeria, the move by the NFF is a bid to apprehend the crisis of confidence among the current crop of goalkeepers of the team.
The reported move by the country’s football body comes on the heels of the two high-profile errors made by Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper, Francis Uzoho in the friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique respectively.
In defence, the head coach of the Super Eagles, Jose Peseiro complained that the lack of confidence in his goalkeepers was responsible for the errors being experienced while on duty in the recent matches.
With the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to be held next year, to win the trophy, the NFF is now looking at avenues to bring back Enyeama into the team.
Enyeama, who is 41 years old, left the national team in 2015. He was very instrumental to the winning of AFCON for the country in South Africa.
The report says Enyeama is being considered for a backroom role to help the confidence of the goalkeepers.
“For eight straight years, Enyeama was the first-choice goalkeeper of the Super Eagles and faced a lot of criticism even up to his last game. His experience will be needed at the AFCON to help the current goalkeepers deal with the pressure that comes with such a task”, a board member of the NFF was quoted to have said.
“In the past, the idea has been mooted but we now want to bring it to light. His experience is badly needed as he is a role model to a lot of these goalkeepers during their formative years, hopefully, talks will end well because his experience is part of what we need at the AFCON”, he stated.
