Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama on Wednesday marked his 36th birthday with sober reflections and thanksgiving, as he described it as another moment to take stock of what God has done for his career.
Enyeama has cited family ties as the biggest reason why he has opted not to leave Lille Metropole of France, despite being knocked out of reckoning in the Ligue 1 club’s main team, and the most capped Nigerian international ever says he has no qualms over his decision.
Rather than accept Lille’s offer of a transfer elsewhere, Enyeama has opted to see out his current contract with the club, which will expire at the end of the new season, but he is yet to make up his mind on what
At the start of this year, though, Enyeama had confessed that his only regret as a top footballer is his inability to feature in the domestic an appearance in Coupe de France.
The star with 101 Nigeria caps moved to Stade Pierre-Mauroy from Hapoel Tel Aviv of Israel in June 2011.
Since landing in France, Enyeama has played in every club tournament for The Great Danes, including the UEFA Champions League and Europa League but still awaits his Coupe de France debut.
Enyeama, who went 1,062 minutes without conceding a goal in the 2013-14 Ligue 1 season, was named as a substitute 10 times in the French Cup, but the experienced shot-stopper never got a chance to compete.
He returned to Lille from loan spell at Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2013, after which he went on to notch 143 league appearances across the last four seasons before suffering a knee injury in April 2017 that kept him on the sidelines for over seven months.
The 2003 and 2004 CAF Champions League winner with Enyimba of Aba is yet to feature for Lille in the French top-flight for two seasons, but says he is not worried about his current situation.
After three successive third-place finishes at the Africa Cup of Nations, the Lille custodian finally clinched the title with the Eagles in 2013.
Though, the last couple of seasons have not been memorable for him, as Enyeama is yet to start a game since the 2016/17 season, he will not allow that weigh him down on his birthday, as he tweeted: “Grateful heart. Thank God for another year.”
