Former Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper Carl Ikeme would have been Nigeria’s short-term solution for Vincent Enyeama’s exit from the Super Eagles.
His prolonged stay would have bought the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) sufficient time to look for a young experienced goal tender to man the goal mouth for Nigeria’s Super Eagles in the long run.
Unfortunately, the 34-year-old got diagnosed of leukemia months after fulfilling his dream of playing for Nigeria’s men senior national team.
He had the height, the confidence and had garnered the experience. But football fell apart for the former who was birthed in England on June 8, 19.
He later recovered and gave signals of a return only to retire a few days later, a retirement that has left an uncertainty in between the sticks for a country of more than 205 million people.
He played 191 matches for Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, and was pivotal in the club’s promotion from League One to the English Championship.
Well, today is Carl’s birthday. BusybuddiesNG compiles a list of five weird facts about the British-born Nigerian goal tender.
10 caps
He made ONLY TEN appearances with the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Ikeme was in goal for the Super Eagles in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Swaziland home and away, and away to Zambia; the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Tanzania home and away, and against Egypt at home, and; in friendly matches against Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Niger Republic.
9 loan spells
Ikeme made NINE LOAN MOVES within a decade during his professional career.
Bizarre career injury
Footballers are often injured on the pitch of play or during training. Ikeme once suffered an injury in a bizarre fashion: He broke his hand punching a dressing-room tactics board and stayed on the sidelines for several weeks.
Listed a decade before first Super Eagles game
He was named by then-coach Berti Vogts in Super Eagles’ Provisional squad for a 2008 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Uganda 10 years before he made his first appearance.
His finally made his debut on September 5, 2015 against Tanzania in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification game.
Happy birthday, Carl Ikeme!
