Vincent Enyeama highlighted the essence of preparation with his heroic penalty save for Nigeria in the 2-0 win over Congo in Pointe Noire on Saturday.
The Congolese could have equalised right after going behind through Ikechukwu Uche’s spot-kick, only for the Lille stopper to dive to the right direction and claw out Thievy Bifouma Koulossa’s effort.
Speaking to Colin Udoh after the crucial victory, the 32-year-old goalkeeper explained how he studied Thievy’s previous penalty from the first-leg in Calabar in September.
On that occasion, the Congo forward tricked Austin Ejide by hitting the ball to the goalkeeper’s right corner into the net.
“It takes a player with big balls to change direction from where he normally plays his spot kicks, especially under pressure,” he said.
“When a player is under pressure like that, with their team a goal down, the crowd behind them needing to score, he tends to go for his comfort zone, which is his best spot.
“I looked at the penalty he scored in the first game, and I saw where he put it. So I went that same way because I was sure he would not change, because he was under pressure. And he did not.”
