Where can Nigeria find the next Peter Rufai, Vincent Enyeama and Ike Shorunmu?

The Nigerian teams of yesteryears have usually had goalkeepers who later became legendary figures. Talking about this set of legends, the likes of Peter Rufai, Vincent Enyeama, and Ike Shorunmu come to mind.

Given that others who have worn the Super Eagles No. 1 jersey include Best Ogedengbe, Emmanuel Okala, and Peter Fregene, it is safe to say that Nigeria has been home to some of the biggest legendary goalkeepers Africa has produced.

Popularly known as 'Dodo Mayana',  Rufai was a role model and inspiration in the eyes of many young Nigerians and his successor was no exception.

Taking things one step further, Enyeama even mimicked his hero's haircut, which many believed was the secret to his mind-blowing heroics in between the goal posts.

Rufai, at 1.87 meters tall, was physically intimidating in that he had a powerful presence between the posts. This has long been attributed to his royal ancestry in the town of Idimu a suburb of Lagos but I'm not so sure about that.

On Enyeama's side, Enyimba won the enigmatic CAF Champions League back-to-back thanks to his fearless confidence.

Rufai's quick reflexes and long stretch allowed him to make some of the most difficult saves in the game. He established himself as Nigeria's greatest penalty-stopper. When it came to penalty shootouts, he was able to lift the entire nation on his own.

As captain of Stationery Stores FC, Ike Shorunmu led the team to the league title. Then, he led the Ibadan Shooting Stars Sports Club to victory in 1995, making him the first player in Nigerian football history to lead two clubs to the title.

Ike finally came into his own in 2000, when he took charge of Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, which was co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana, after years of shadowing Peter Rufai in the Super Eagles.

Since the departure of these legends, those who have donned the number one jersey have been largely underwhelming.

Despite the recent upturn in form for Uzoho, he hasn't done enough to be fully trusted for the national team.

So where can Nigeria find the next of the aforementioned legendary goalkeepers? Should the three-time AFCON winners look abroad?

Or should they send scouts back to the roots to hunt for the next goalkeeping big thing?  However, allnigeriasoccer.com thinks the second option would be better.

Sofoluwe Mayowa

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