Is Enyeama World Class Keeper?

The Lille keeper has em
barked on a remarkable run of form and currently stands on the cusp of breaking a French defensive record that has stood for eleven years.
As a result, his profile, both within Europe and beyond, has increased greatly. Many have heard of the name or been vaguely aware of his standing, but only now are people beginning to speak of Enyeama with the breathless ecstasy and splurging excitement typically reserved for the profession’s elite.
Does Enyeama deserve to be considered as ‘World Class’.
To begin with, it is important that I present my definition of World Class; this is a term that is often bandied around and thrown into hypothetical discourse, perhaps without the clarification and attention it deserves. I think that the majority agree that the term means, vaguely, “ranking among the best or foremost in the world” but that alone is not sufficient explanation.
Are all professional footballers, the paid minority among a globe of aspiring hopefuls, world class? Are all international players, those who represent their nation in the global arena, world class? Are those who win trophies or  make the finals the foremost in the sport? Clearly, there is an ambiguity here.
I define a World Class footballer as one who would stand out or excel consistently in the most rarefied of fixtures, those that pit the world’s finest teams together, i.e. the semi-finals, maybe even the quarter-finals, of a Champions League or World Cup. Again, there are some vague terms here, but it is, at least, a start.
When considering a player’s standing, I ask myself, “How would they perform at this elite end of competition, within the context of the world’s best?”
So, how does Enyeama stand against this qualification?
The immediate, simplistic and disappointing answer, is that we are not quite in a position to make a judgement just yet.
Over the last 12 months, Enyeama has not played against the kind of elite opponents that would populate the business end of major tournaments. He did not concede against a second-string Italian side in a recent international friendly having replaced Austin Ejide in the second half.
High-profile Ligue 1 games against Marseille and Monaco have come and gone and his goal has remained sacrosanct, but none of these opponents, as teams go, are among the world’s finest. The evidence to judge, effectively, whether Enyeama would thrive regularly against the world’s greatest, simply does not exist.
We can only speculate.
Speculation, however, begins to paint a picture of a very established keeper approaching the pinnacle of his profession.
He currently stands 142 minutes away from breaking Gaetan Huard’s record of 1,176 minutes without conceding a goal, a truly remarkable feat.
The likes of Fabien Barthez, Bernard Lama, Hugo Lloris, Greg Coupet and, recently, Salvatore Sirigu have all featured in the intervening years without breaking the record, and yet here, Nigeria’s Enyeama stands on the brink of doing just that.
It is worth adding, as well, that many of these other stoppers stood behind exceptionally celebrated defences, while Lille, despite possessing some fine talents, recently lost Aurelien Chedjou, who was such an imposing force for them last season.
Even though Marseille and Monaco are not currently competing in the business end of the Champions League, both possess exceptional forwards that were unable to find Enyeama’s net.
Falcao, who certainly is World Class, was persistently frustrated when the sides met in early November, while Mathieu Valbuena, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Jordan Ayew were unable to bypass the Nigerian.
If Enyeama is to take Huard’s record, he will need to remain resolute (for 52 minutes at least) when the dual terrors of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani seek to undermine him on December 22. If he can do that, then immortality awaits.
Enyeama has not quite been as outstanding for Nigeria over 2013, and while it is easy to remember the highs, particularly his referee-lifting escapades after Nigeria secured the continental title in February, the lows ought not to be forgotten.
A lapse in concentration saw Enyeama calamitously carry the ball over his own goal line in the first leg of the World Cup play-off against Ethiopia, a blunder that could have proved to be disastrous had Emmanuel Emenike not atoned with a brace.
Similarly, his fumble against Liberia during qualification for the 2013 Afcon, and his complacency against Uruguay in the Confederations Cup would have proved more memorable in different surroundings.
Despite this, the positives certainly seem to outweigh the negatives for Enyeama, so much so that Austin Ejide remains, firmly, the team’s reserve keeper.
Enyeama clearly brings a lot to the team and to the squad. He deserves great credit for his expert management and organisation of the young central defenders (Godfrey Oboabona and Kenneth Omeruo) that protected his net during the African Cup of Nations. The two might be talented, but along with Efe Ambrose who was shunted out to right-back, they were a potentially uncertain unit.
Beyond being an established organiser on the pitch, he is also an experienced head off it, and I imagine he is a valuable influence upon and a confident example for the many young Super Eagles that regularly populate Nigeria’s vestiaire.
I would conclude by arguing that even though Enyeama has proved himself to be a fine goalkeeper and an excellent on-field manager, it is too early to identify him as ‘World Class’.
Should Lille, who currently sit in second place in Ligue 1, qualify for the Champions League next season, we may be in a position to assess Enyeama’s performances against the world’s finest. Up to now, he has spent too much of his career away from the top end of the sport and subsequently, hasn’t been testing himself, regularly, against the game’s finest forwards.
Next summer’s World Cup provides the former Hapoel Tel Aviv man with a fine platform upon which to demonstrate his prowess.
If he can replicate his stunning showing against Lionel Messi and Argentina in 2010 then maybe the broader footballing public will begin to see Enyeama as one of the globe’s elite stoppers.
Dove writes for kickoff nigeria.com.

Enyeama in action.