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| Enyeama |
If all goes according to plan, Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama will
play in his third FIFA World Cup next month. He is fresh off winning the
Marc-Vivien Foe award given to the best African player in France’s Ligue 1, and
following up on his impressive performances for the Super Eagles at South
Africa 2010, Enyeama has high expectations.
Although Nigeria have struggled in their last two World Cups, the Lille
custodian tells FIFA.com, in a chat monitored by SHOWBIZPLUSng that the African champions can make deep in-roads in
Brazil after being drawn into Group F against Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and
Argentina.
“I think we are going to make big progress,” Enyeama said. “We are
focused on the World Cup, to make Africa the proudest continent. Ghana almost
reached the semi-finals four years ago. We are going to achieve a better result
and be the first African team to get to the semi-finals of the World Cup.”
The 31-year-old first played for Nigeria at Korea/Japan 2002, when coach
Festus Onigbinde gave the then 19-year-old a starting place in their final
group game against England, after the team had already been eliminated.
Enyeama’s outstanding display helped the Super Eagles to a goalless draw and
was a sign of things to come for the Kaduna-born goalkeeper, who took over the
No1 jersey from Ike Shorunmu when the veteran retired shortly after that World
Cup. Since then, Enyeama has been an ever-present for his country, shining at
South Africa 2010 and last year’s FIFA Confederations Cup, and winning the CAF
Africa Cup of Nations 2013 – a tournament the West Africans are hoping to
defend in Morocco next year.
It will be the third time in a row that Nigeria will be facing Argentina
at the World Cup, but more importantly for Enyeama, a match-up with France in
the second round could be on the cards: “If we play against France, it will be
interesting, but if we play against Switzerland, it will also be interesting.
The important thing is to qualify.
“Playing France for a place in the last eight is not really what matters
to me right now, I just want the team to make it to the second round. But maybe
we will come out first, and then we will not have to play against France.”
Fifa.com
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