Diego Costa would have fainted on the spot. This summer Marcelo Bielsa took charge of Lille and quickly compiled a list of 11 players whom he did not plan to use – and then he relayed the news by text message. Between them the XI had 274 caps, with Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama holding 101 of those. He seemed unlikely to add to that tally but now, as the Super Eagles face a critical pair of World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon, the African champions, many of his compatriots wish they could call on a goalkeeper of Enyeama’s pedigree.
Technically Nigeria could still have called on Enyeama. The goalkeeper has suggested he is open to returning to international duty, from which he withdrew two years ago following a dispute with the then manager Sunday Oliseh. But as he is out of favour at his club and not match fit, Gernot Rohr reckoned the 35-year-old was not the man to help them out of their predicament.
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