Paternal goalkeeping hurdles before Godswill Enyeama

The media were awash with news of Godswill Enyeama, the son of former Nigeria number one, Vincent, signing a contract with Lille as a goalkeeper for their U18 team on Thursday.

As cheering as this is, the youngster is faced with the onerous task of matching his father’s steps at the Ligue 1 club.

His performances at the club and most possibly at the at the international level will be gauged by his father’s exemplary qualities, which require relentless hard work, determination, and total focus to measure up to or surpass them.

His 41-year-old retired father kept 143 matches for the club from 2011 to 2018 and was exceptionally brilliant between the sticks during the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season, when he was made first choice by Coach René Girard ahead of Steeve Elana, keeping 11 consecutive clean sheets in Ligue 1 matches during the first half of the season. He eventually conceded a goal on December 8, 2013, after playing 1,062 minutes of Ligue 1 football in an away match against Bordeaux, coming within 114 minutes of equaling Gaëtan Huard’s Ligue 1 goalkeeping record, set in 1993, of playing 1,176 minutes without conceding a goal.

The international task is even more daunting for two salient reasons.

One, Dele Aiyenugba, is the only former Nigeria goalkeeper whose son, Daniel, has taken to goalkeeping among a litany of ex-international shot stoppers. The product of Kwara Football Academy, who is currently showcasing his talent at the Gothia Cup in Sweden in the colours of Beyond Limits FC Limits, has the potential to represent Nigeria at the senior level. This is a hurdle Godswill must overcome in the near future.

Two, his father left a tall order internationally, belting 101 appearances for Nigeria between 2002 and 2015, with multiple appearances at the World Cup, African Cup of Nations, and CAF Champions League with Enyimba.

He has a litany of titles to show for his efforts, all of which have been starring Godswill in the face in the family trophy cabinet since birth. He won three Nigeria Premier Football League titles with Enyimba in 2001, 2002, and 2003; CAF Champions League titles with the People’s Elephant in 2003 and 2004; the Israeli Premier League and Israel State Cup with Hapoel Tel-Aviv; and the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria in 2013.

His individual honours nclude: CAF Champions League Player of the Year: 2003, 2004; Footballer of the Year in Israel: 2009 UNFP Player of the Month: October 2013, November 2013, Prix Marc-Vivien Foé: 2013–14, Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2004, 2013, Goalkeeper of the Year Nigeria Pitch Awards: 2013, 2014, King of the Pitch Nigeria Pitch Awards: 2014, Goal Nigeria Player of the Year: 2014; IFFHS CAF Men’s Team of the Decade: 2011–2020; and IFFHS 2023 March: Greatest African Goalkeeper of all Time.

Enyeama also bagged the Member of the Order of the Niger national honour.

Finally, Enyeama was not only exceptional at preventing goals but also carved a niche for himself as one of the highest scoring Nigerian and African goalkeepers in history, weighing in with 20 goals in a total of 531 club career matches in the colours of Ibom Stars, Enyimba, Iwuanyanwu Nationale, Bnei Yehuda, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Lille, and Maccabi Tel Aviv from 1999 to 2013.