Metro
Enyeama to quit Eagles after AFCON 2017
Super Eagles goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, says he plans to retire from the nation’s national football team, the Super Eagles and give way to others, after the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017.
Enyeama, who said he had been on the scene since 2002, explained that the desire to give younger goalkeepers the opportunity to develop themselves informed his decision to retire from the national team.
He told NAN, “I can’t keep doing the same thing forever; there is going to be a time I have to stop and give it up to some other persons.
“I am the only face here since 2002, but 2017 Nations Cup finals will be my last game. I just said my target, anything can happen after,” he added.
The Eagles goal tender explained that the immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, prevented him from retiring from the team after it failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Enyeama told the NAN that his wife and pastor also prevailed on him to drop the plan.
The Lille of France safe hands said, “I actually wanted to stop, it wasn’t a rumour. Nigeria is blessed with great goalkeepers, just that we need to give them confidence.
“Nobody gave me a chance when I started, I was a rookie also; I belt it up, I worked hard for it and became the big person that nobody wants to lose.
“What changed my mind was the passion of Nigerians. I had a lot of calls, my governor, Akpabio.
“A lot of people talked with me. These things, you don’t just ignore and my wife also talked with me.
“My wife didn’t want me to leave yet. I talked with my pastor and he said if everybody said stay, why not. So, I decided to continue, but then, there is going to be a time to call it quits.”
Ripples… without borders, without fears
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...