Super Eagles legend reveals an influential person offered him something to wear before Nigeria vs Ethiopia AFCON game
- Vincent Enyeama led Nigeria to AFCON glory in 2013
- The goalkeeper recalled how they started their campaign on a difficult note with two draws
- Enyeama revealed that some top-ranking person came to offer him something to wear before the Ethiopia game
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Super Eagles goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, was instrumental in Nigeria winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations title in South Africa.
The West African country were never favourites to win the silverware heading into the tournament but they grew into the championship after every game.
Recalled that the Stephen Keshi-led team started their campaign with back to back draws against Burkina Faso and Zambia and these results gave so many people concerns about the side.
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However, they grabbed their first win of the tournament in their third game against Ethiopia with Victor Moses scoring the two goals that sealed the win for his side.
Source: Getty Images
But, that was not the experience before the third group C game as their progress to the quarterfinals was not guaranteed.
The former Lille shot-stopper reveals that an influential person offered to give him something to wear but he rejected it. Enyeama told Brila.net.
"Someone very prominent came to me, he said 'Vincent you’re the captain of the team, I wan give you something make you put for cloth enter this Ethiopia match. [sic]'
"I told him I won’t and if I didn’t believe we could win fair; if I didn’t believe we could win against Ethiopia, I would have gone back and gone home."
Moses ended up saving the day with his brace as Keshi and his men finished second on the table and participated in the last eight.
While reminiscing about the tournament eight years ago, Enyeama said the Eagles got a fair draw compared to other teams.
"It was a team that was unified. there’s a culture in the Eagles at the time, we fasted and did night prayers. This was the first team I played for that every teammate turns up when you asked them to come for prayers.
"Even though many didn’t give us a chance; really we were lucky our group wasn’t so difficult and it helped our journey through to the quarter-finals."
Sunday Mba eventually wrote his name in gold after scoring the final goal of the tournament and propel Nigeria to triumph in Africa for the third time in history.
Legit.ng earlier reported that exactly eight years ago, Nigeria lifted her third Africa Cup of Nations title in South Africa in a grand style.
The late coach Stephen Keshi-led team defeated Burkina Faso by a lone goal courtesy of Sunday Mba at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
It was indeed a surprise for many as most people did not give the team a chance to go far in the tournament not to talk of winning the competition.
Oluwatomiwa is a sports editor with Legit.ng. He has over eight years of field and office experience in the media industry.
He graduated from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in 2014 with HND in Mass Communication. Learn more about him on Twitter @TomiwaBabalola.
Source: Legit.ng
