…To tackle AS Excelsior in tomorrow’s French Cup
Vincent Enyeama entered the New Year with great expectations, as his French club, Lille, moved up from the relegation zone of the French Ligue 1, to forge ahead in the series. The former Nigeria’s number one goalkeeper is in top shape as Lille escaped from the bottom of the French Legue 1 to stand on the 12th position, after playing 19 matches with six victories, three draws and 10 losses.
The club is billed to take on AS Excelsior in the French Cup Round of 64 tomorrow. Excelsior, a less fancied small club that is contesting for honours in the prestigious French Cup, is an association football club from Saint-Joseph, Réunion Island, and should not pose any threat to Enyeama’s Lille. But Enyeama has not been living up to his grade in France, since he resigned from Nigeria’s national team. His diminished form has also affected his global rating in recent times.
The Akwa Ibom State-born goalkeeper was missing among the top 13 goalkeepers in the world for 2016, recently mentioned by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
The IFFHS world’s best goalkeeper is a football award, given annually since 1987, with votes cast by IFFHS’s editorial staff, as well as experts from different continents.
In April, the 33-year-old finished sixth among the top 10 goalkeepers in Europe, for the 2015/16 season, by the Swissbased CIES Football Observatory. Super Eagles Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, had initiated a move to recall the goaltender when he first arrived Nigeria, but there were divided opinions on Enyeama’s return to the national team.
Lille has not been finding it easy in the French Ligue 1 this season, as they started the journey on a rough patch by losing scandalously to their foes. But they later tried their best to win few matches to remain in contention and fight for a good standing on the table
