By Tonte Davies
Call them slow in attack, overly defensive and other times, careless in passes the Super Eagles are on the brink of round of 16 qualification. Osaze Odemwingie may have been touted as Budweiser Man of the Match for his goal against the eastern Europeans. However, Vincent Enyeama’s show-stopping performance remains a talking point. The goalkeeper once again, showed the world why he –for now – remains Nigeria’s number 1 goal-tender.
Vincent Enyeama did not shudder during his team’s encounter against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their second Group F match. For a player who “does not consider himself as the best African goalkeeper,” his display says otherwise. Enyeama’s match statistics in the game against the eastern Europeans says much. Playing the entire 90 minutes was more convincing in the encounter with Bosnia compared to Nigeria’s game against Iran.
Given the fact Nigeria played more defensive in the second 45 minutes of their match implying the Bosnians attacked more, Enyeama got more touches (47) to the ball. Enyeama’s opposite in goal for Bosnia, Asmir Begovic, had less touches (36) to the ball, in contrast. Both goalkeepers were called upon to make crucial saves but Begovic made a save more than Enyeama: the implication being that Enyeama was most likely protected by his defenders. In terms of pass accuracy, Vincent Enyeama had 47 percent accurate passes which was less Asmir Begovic’s 50 percent.
These statistics can be said not to be a true reflection of Enyeama’s stunning performance in the same game. According to a player rating by Goal.com, Vincent Enyeama made several crucial saves keeping the likes of Edin Džeko and Miralem Pjanic at bay. Vincent Enyeama “made a couple of important saves in the first half to keep both Džeko and Pjanic at bay,” Goal.com said on their website. The website went on to say that “the most important came at the death when he diverted Džeko’s shot onto the post.”
In the Super Eagles game against Iran, Enyeama was touted as “one of the better players” in a side considered to be poor in overall performance. Before the match against Bosnia-Herzegovina, the 31 year old shot-stopper modestly refused to accept any acclaim whether or not his side does not do well. Enyeama is quoted as saying he does not “want to be the hero, or win the man of the match like last World Cup against Argentina, and we lose the game.”
“The best game I want to see is the one where we win, and nobody notices me at all. I just want the team to win, that’s all.” And indeed, the Nigeria squad went on to win the game. Pointedly, Vincent Enyeama did not get to win the Budweiser man of the match award as stated earlier; Peter Osaze Odemwingie carted away the prize for the goal which added woes to the Bosnians. Perhaps the game against the Europeans may be his best performance so far but maybe not.
The Super Eagles will encounter perennial World Cup rivals and Group F table-toppers Argentina, on Wednesday. Only this time, it will be hoped by fans of the Nigeria team and Enyeama’s admirers to see Nigeria maintain their record tournament clean sheet.