13th September, 2012
Former CAF and FIFA Technical Committee member, Adegboye Onigbinde has leapt to the defence of underfire goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, following his poor display in last Saturday’s 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Liberia.
Enyeama’s error in the 66th minute of the first leg, final round qualifier gave the Lone Star an equaliser in the game prompting sections of the local media to unleash their claws on the shot-stopper.
Onigbinde, has however moved to defend the Maccabi Tel Aviv man, explaining that it is wrong to put the blame squarely on the Super Eagles’ keeper for the 2-2 draw in Monrovia.
“I think it is wrong to put the blame solely on Enyeama. Football is a game played by 11 players and one player should never be blamed for an error that leads to an unsatisfactory result for a team.
“We should also ask ourselves, what were the other ten players doing before the ball got to the keeper? It is wrong to blame one player for the result in a team game like football, ” Onigbinde said.
It was reported in several sections of the local media that head coach Stephen Keshi had criticised the player for his performance in the game against Liberia. Keshi subsequently denied blaming Enyeama and Onigbinde was quick to weigh in on the situation.
“I was disappointed when I first read in the newspapers that Keshi had blamed Enyeama for the loss because I didn’t think it was the right thing to do but I was pleased when I read again (on Wednesday) in the newspapers that he had denied ever making such comments.
“We must learn to support our players when they pass through difficult moments because there are good and bad moments in football,” he said.