“I have fought a good fought a good fight for more than 13 years, i have finished my course, i have kept the faith and sang the anthem with passion, henceforth there Is laid for me a crown which only God can reward me for my 13 years of national service. God bless Nigeria.”
These were the exact words of Vincent Enyeama, Super Eagles Captain who took on to instagram to announce his international retirement .
Enyeama’s career no doubt has been one of immense success. Right from his playing days at Enyimba International F.C of Aba where he won the CAF Champions league Consecutively in 2003 and 2004. Before then he had put out an eye-catching performance in Nigeria’s encounter with England at the 2002 FIFA World at Korea /Japan.
Since then, he has been a very powerful member of the Super Eagles. His abilities has never been in doubt as he has stood out on a number of occasions. He was also part of the Coach Stehen Keshi’s led Super Eagles Team that won the ANC in SouthAfrica in 2013. He continued to produce some dazzling performances both at the International and Club levels. Thus, in 2014 he won the Marc Vivien Foe Award for the best African Player in France. The first time a goalkeeper won the award. He holds the record for the second longest clean sheet held by a goalkeeper in the ligue 1. He is also listed among the top 20 highest goal scoring goalkeepers in his history. An amazing player indeed!
It was clear that the decision of Coach Oliseh to appoint Ahmed Musa as Captain did not augur down well with Enyeama. Ofcourse enyeama had the right to express grieviances under normal circumstances which he did. But that not withstanding it remains the prerogative right of any Coach to appoint a Captain.
Criteria for Appointing Captains have always differed from coaches to coaches depending on their principles, ideals or values. Some Teams have the tradition of Appointing Captains based on Age as is the case in Nigeria while others based on experience or influence. We take a look at the Concept of Football captaincy, duties and responsibilities of captains.
A captain of a football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team: it is often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influence a game.
Rather than simply awarding the title of captain to your leading scorer or other top performer, choose a “Triple-Impact Competitor,” who is committed to improving self, teammates and the game as a whole. As a coach, introduce the concept of the Triple-Impact Competitor during tryouts and pre-season so that players understand the basis on which you will select captains. In addition to helping you identify captains, this will inspire players who aspire to captaincy to suddenly pay a bit more attention to helping their teammates.
Of course, this improves individual and team performance and can reinforce a strong team culture, which carries rewards far beyond the playing field.Other factors that can determine whom you name captain include:
– Who works the hardest in pre-season
– Who singularly goes above and beyond your expectations in terms of
improving self, teammates or game
– Who might contribute even more to your team due to the psychological boost
of being named captain.
Responsibilities
Captains should complement coaches as arbiters of team culture. Sometimes they may help you focus players’ attention when it wanders. Other times they may represent players’ points of view on game strategy, practice plans or how to ensure that all players stay aligned toward team goals. Coaches must find their own comfort level with the captain’s level of authority among teammates and take care to understand and cultivate the appropriate
level of respect teammates afford to captains. With the right balance, coaches can keep a finger on the pulse of the team through the captains, and captains can voice the players’ divergent ideas to coaches without undermining the coaches’ authority.
Captains also can lead in a variety of routine ways, such as:
– Leading stretching and warm-up/cool-down sessions
– Communicating with referees
– Organizing off-field activities
– Finding ways to include teammates who are less integrated into the team
– Helping settle disagreements among teammates
By Joshua Jesse Kelvin, he writes from Lagos. Twitter handle: @JJ_kelvin
