President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, believes none of the other players on the list of 25 players released by the Confederation of African Football for the 2014 African Player of the Year has done more than Super Eagles’ stars Vincent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa to merit the award.
CAF on Thursday listed 25 players, including Ivorian Yaya Toure – who has won the award in the last three years – in the initial pool for the Player of the Year, ahead of a shortlist of five that will be released in December.
“If we look critically at the list, it would be difficult to see any player who has done more for club and country in the outgoing year than Vincent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa.
“Both were in fabulous forms for their clubs (Enyeama with Lille and Musa with CSKA Moscow) during the year, and also played brilliant roles as the Super Eagles reached the Round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil,” Pinnick stated.
The NFF boss made it clear that he was in no way disrespecting other players on the list for the award.
“I have immense respect for most of the players listed, particularly Toure, Asamoah Gyan of Ghana, and the Algerian trio of Slimani, Feghouli and Brahimi, who also steered their team to the Round of 16 at the World Cup.
“Yet, the exploits of Enyeama and Musa in the outgoing year have been exceptional. Either of them deserves the award.”
Eagles’ goalkeeper and skipper Enyeama made several top-notch saves at the World Cup in Brazil and was also brilliant for French Ligue 1 club Lille while Musa became the first Nigerian senior team player to score two goals against Argentina in a competitive match, when he netted a brace against the South Americans in a World Cup group phase game in Porto Alegre.
