From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Nigeria former international, Garba Lawal, has warned French-based Nigerian goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, to resist every pressure mounted on him to rescind his retirement decision and return to the Super Eagles, insisting that he would regret the action.
Speaking to Daily Sunsports on telephone from Kaduna, the former Eagles player argued that Nigerians will not exonerate him from any blame should the Super Eagles fail to pick ticket to the FIFA World Cup and the AFCON 2019.
Lawal dismissed insinuations that Enyeama’s return will solve the goalkeeping crisis currently facing the team, likening it to bringing the likes of Austin Okocha or Uche Okechukwu from retirement because Super Eagles is facing midfield and defence crisis.
Reacting to the inquiry on whether he will endorse Enyeama’s return, he said: “I will not advice Enyeama to come back to the Super Eagles no matter the pressure from Nigerians and stakeholders. He has retired and should stay so.
“I know that he was forced into retirement because of the rift he had with Sunday Oliseh but he should stay away from the team. We should also respect his decision to retire instead of forcing him out of retirement.
“My fear is that people will blame it on his return should Eagles fail to pick the tickets. Although I don’t see him coming back, however I will advise him to just stay away,” he warned.
On his coming back to solve the goalkeeper crisis facing the team, Lawal said: “We all played the game and retired but we did not return even when our retirement created vacuums in the team. Don’t forget that Jay-Jay, Kalu, Ikpeba, Amokachi, Uche, Finidi and many others left long time ago but does it mean we should return because there is crisis in the team, he querried
“It does not work that way and the way I see it is that this is the time for some people to capitalise on the opportunity and grab it. It is a challenge to the young goalkeepers to step in.
I just want to urge the technical crew to give them confidence.
“Before Enyeama, there were other good goalkeepers but they did not bow to pressure to come back. We have to respect Enyeama’s decision. He will rubbish the reputation he built over the years by coming back because people are clamouring for his return,” he said.