Chelsea number one names Super Eagles legend among Africa’s greatest goalkeepers

The continent has been blessed with a few of the most interesting shot-stoppers over the past century

Chelsea FC’s primary gloves Edouard Mendy has included Nigerian hero Victor Enyeama on his record of the 4 best African goalkeepers of all time.

For Mendy, compatriot and Senegal nice Tony Sylva, Cameroon duo of Thomas N’kono and Carlos Kameni, and Tremendous Eagles icon Vincent Enyeama are the 4 most interesting shot-stoppers to have ever come out of the continent. 

Mendy, who received the 2021 AFCON with the Teranga Lions in February, acknowledged that Africa had produced many gifted goalkeepers over time. However the Chelsea star is satisfied that none surpasses the abilities and achievements of Enyeama and the three others.

“The best African goalkeeper of all time? I believe that in Africa, we’re fortunate to have had plenty of goalkeepers marking their interval,” Mendy mentioned in an interview with Carré, as per Cameroon Journal.

“Goalkeepers love Thomas N’Kono, in fact. However not too long ago, we had Tony Sylva who’s a real legend of Senegalese soccer.

“We had Carlos Kameni. We additionally had Vincent Enyeama.

“In a number of international locations, we have been fortunate to have plenty of good goalkeepers. It’s, subsequently, very troublesome to call only one.”

How good was Vincent Enyeama?

Vincent Enyeama got here to prominence at Enyimba Worldwide, powering the Aba-based facet to 3 consecutive league titles between 2001 and 2003.

Enyeama sealed his spot as an Enyimba nice when he guided the membership to back-to-back CAF Champions League honours in 2003 and 2004. He was solely 21 on the time.

After leaving the native scene for Europe in 2005, Enyeama spent seven years in Israel, the place he was thought to be the very best goalkeeper of that period.

The previous Bnei Yehuda ace received two league honours and was named the 2009 Footballer of the Yr in Israel forward of a number of star strikers and midfielders.

Enyeama joined Lille in 2011 and was on the payroll of the French membership for seven years, throughout which he received the Prix Marc-Vivien Foé for the very best African participant in Ligue 1 in 2014.

With Nigeria, Enyeama additionally loved important success. The Kaduna-born goalie made his Tremendous Eagles debut in 2002. He grew to become the crew’s first-choice primary gloves after the retirement of Ike Shorunmu.

Enyeama helped the Nigerian nationwide crew to third-place finishes within the 2004, 2006, and 2010 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

The ex-Lille man then captained the Tremendous Eagles to victory in opposition to Burkina Faso within the 2013 AFCON ultimate in South Africa.

Thought of by some forward of Peter Rufai as the very best Nigerian goalkeeper in historical past, Enyeama was included within the IFFHS CAF Males’s Group of the Decade between 2011 and 2020.