Essien Picks Former Nigerian Star In His African XI Of The Decade

With just a few hours to the close of 2019, former Ghana and Chelsea star Michael Essien has picked his African team of the decade, and Vincent Enyeama made the list.

In an interview with BBC, Essien was asked to pick the best African players of the decade, and he selected Enyeama in goal.

Although he has not played for the Super Eagles since 2015, Enyeama was one of Nigeria’s key players this decade.

The former Lille goalkeeper led Nigeria to her third AFCON title in 2013 with the Super Eagles beating Burkina Faso in the final.  He also impressed for Nigeria at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

He also featured prominently for Lille in the early parts of the decade. He went 11 games without conceding for Les Dogues and was just 115 minutes away from beating Ligue 1’s longest run without conceding a goal (1,176) set by set by Gaetan Huard in 1993.

With performances like this, it was enough for him to be included in Essien’s African team of the decade. The former Lyon star picked Enyeama in goal.

Other players included in Essien’s team include Kolo Toure, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Medhi Benatia, Kalidou Koulibaly, Michael Essien, Yaya Toure, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o.