Akpabio persuaded me to shelve retirement from Eagles, says Enyeama

SUPER Eagles’ captain and goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, has disclosed that it took the intervention of former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, to stop him from retiring from the national team when Nigeria failed to qualify to defend the 2013 AFCON trophy during the 2015 edition in Equatorial Guinea.

Enyeama said yesterday that he had concluded plans to hang his gloves for international competitions before he received calls, including that of the former governor, urging him not to leave the national team at that period.

The Olympic Lyonnais goalkeeper, who rates Warri Wolves goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi, as experienced enough to take over from him, said he decided to change his mind after consultations with his wife and pastor.

“Nigeria is blessed with great goalkeepers, it is just that we need to give them confidence. Nobody gave me a chance when I started… I was a rookie also. I worked for it and became the big person nobody wants to lose now… that is how it is.

“You can’t keep doing the same thing forever; there is going to be a time I have to stop and allow some other person to take over. If you see from 2002 I am the only face here; it makes it a little bit hard but then it’s nothing. The 2017 Nations Cup finals will be my last game; I just set my target, anything can happen after,” he said.