Nigerian professional goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama who was born on August 29 1982 and hails from Ika Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. He currently plays for Ligue 1 club Lille as a goalkeeper and was also a member of the Nigerian national team from 2002 until October 2015, serving as its captain from 2013 until his retirement from international football in 2015.
He played for Enyimba International F.C. winning the CAF Champions League twice, with one noteworthy distinction: He was always substituted before penalty shootouts. After three seasons with Enyimba International F.C. and one with Iwuanyanwu Nationale (now known as Heartland F.C.), Enyeama moved to small Israeli club Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv. In his first season, the team qualified for the final of the Israel State Cup and, having finished fourth in the Israeli Premier League, for the 2006 UEFA Cup competition as well.
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In 2007, Enyeama signed for Hapoel Tel Aviv and helped the team avoid relegation and reach the state cup final. During the 2008/09 season, he won the “Player of The Year” award becoming and in 2009/10 season, his team won the league and cup double, with Enyeama featuring prominently. Hapoel also won the Israeli cup again.
In June 2011 he moved to French side Lille for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract. He made his debut on 18 October 2011 against Inter Milan in the 2012 UEFA Champions League group stage, where Inter managed a 1–0 victory.
During the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season, club manager René Girard picked Enyeama as his first-choice goalkeeper ahead of Steeve Elana, who had previously been the first-choice goalkeeper under Rudi Garcia.
With 101 caps, he is Nigeria’s most capped player of all time. He featured in 2002 FIFA World Cup. Since the retirement of Shorunmu, he has been the first-choice goalkeeper for the national team, helping the Super Eagles to third-place finishes in the 2004, 2006, 2010 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, and captaining the team to victory of in the 2013 edition. He has also participated in the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In March 2017, the coach of Super Eagles, Gernot Rohr, considered asking Enyeama to rejoin the Super Eagles, saying Enyeama’s retirement was as a result of a misunderstanding between Enyeama and former coach Sunday Oliseh. Also in August 2017, the president of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki, asked Enyeama to return to the Super Eagles, but Enyeama turned down the request.
Enyeama is married with three children.
