Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Kanu Nwankwo says he is willing to talk former Super Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama out of retirement to help Nigeria in the World Cup 2018 Qualifiers.
Nigeria is battling a mini goalkeeper crisis with first choice goalkeeper Carl Ikeme ruled out of a football for the foreseeable future after he was diagnosed with acute Leukaemia, while second choice Daniel Akpeyi failed to convince in the 0-2 loss to South Africa last month.
Home based shot stopper Ikechukwu Ezenwa appears not to have the trust of coach Gernot Rohr, while Dele Alampasu is possibly viewed by the coach as not experienced enough for the high profile games Nigeria have in the coming months.
Kanu who tagged Enyeama as world class believes the Lille shot stopper who has been frozen out of the first team set up at his French club by new coach Marcelo Bielsa still has what it takes to man the post for Nigeria .
He also said the coach should extend a call up to out of favour Daniel Aiyenugba, who has been mooted as a possible option if Enyeama opt against returning back to the team ahead of their upcoming games.
“As it is now we need Vincent badly. In my opinion, Enyeama should come back immediately,” the two-time African Player of the Year told KweséESPN. “Whoever is close enough to reach him should tell him to start coming back.
“Enyeama is very very good. He is one of the best players in Africa, and one of the best in the world. Let the federation look into it and do everything they can to bring him back.
“If Enyeama says he doesn’t want to come, people like us can talk to him, the federation too can talk to him. If a lot of people talk to him, I’m sure that definitely he will change his mind.
“And not just Enyeama, let us look at some of the other active goalkeepers too. If we have like four goalkeepers there training, there will be competition and the coach can have more options to make his decision.”
Ade Emmanuel
