Cybereagles

txj wrote:Enyeama was a top goalie, but its a travesty to compare him to Rufai, not to mention Okalla.

SMH at some of these people...

Give us reasons for your arrogant facts...

chuks69 wrote:Rufai had an eye problem later in his career. headers from Corner kicks were almost a sure goal during Rufai's prime. Rufai was good, but france 98 rubbbished his legacy.
They are both the best two Gks we have had.. In overall Enyeama clinches it..

Okala was the best

Rufai had Keshi, Uche and Okafor in front of him. Enyeama had Yobo, Nwaneri and fat azz Danny Shittu.

Chief Ogbunigwe wrote:

chuks69 wrote:Rufai had an eye problem later in his career. headers from Corner kicks were almost a sure goal during Rufai's prime. Rufai was good, but france 98 rubbbished his legacy.
They are both the best two Gks we have had.. In overall Enyeama clinches it..

Okala was the best

Bros...if you see footage from those days, na so so laugh you go dey laugh


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67SBPQbumiU[/video]

nanijoe wrote:

Chief Ogbunigwe wrote:

chuks69 wrote:Rufai had an eye problem later in his career. headers from Corner kicks were almost a sure goal during Rufai's prime. Rufai was good, but france 98 rubbbished his legacy.
They are both the best two Gks we have had.. In overall Enyeama clinches it..

Okala was the best

Bros...if you see footage from those days, na so so laugh you go dey laugh


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67SBPQbumiU[/video]

this is like Man U vs Chelsea

Enyeama was a little short (just a little) of world class. Rufai wouldn't know what world class was if it was running at him.



In this old vs new debate, I generally side with the old guys as people like Yekini, Amokachi, Okocha, Kanu, Finidi/Odegbami, Taribo, Keshi etc are better than anyone that came after them.....But there are a few exceptions....

Vincent is the best Nigerian goalkeeper in the last 30 years....and probably ever (but my level of expertise is about 30 years)

Period.

Other potential exceptions are Ndidi, and hopefully Osimhen...but these are debatable. Enyeama, on the other hand, is not debatable. He's the best.

deanotito wrote:Enyeama was a little short (just a little) of world class. Rufai wouldn't know what world class was if it was running at him.



In this old vs new debate, I generally side with the old guys as people like Yekini, Amokachi, Okocha, Kanu, Finidi/Odegbami, Taribo, Keshi etc are better than anyone that came after them.....But there are a few exceptions....

Vincent is the best Nigerian goalkeeper in the last 30 years....and probably ever (but my level of expertise is about 30 years)

Period.

Other potential exceptions are Ndidi, and hopefully Osimhen...but these are debatable. Enyeama, on the other hand, is not debatable. He's the best.

QED. Roll drums, please. Going through all the thread...... And the award goes to Vincent Enyeama!!!

txj wrote:Enyeama was a top goalie, but its a travesty to compare him to Rufai, not to mention Okalla.

SMH at some of these people...

Enyeama was better than both.

The level of strikers Enyeama faced.
The level of defenders he had to play with.
The equipment that he had to contend with that gave the advantage to strikers.
His longevity on the job.
Plus, on multiple occasions, he was the best player on the field even to the point of winning MOM in a loss.

If you now go with stats... he is statistically better than all of them.

Uzoho at this point is at least as good or Rufai and definitely better than Okala...Vincent is far and away the best goalkeeper Nigeria has ever had. In fact I'm not convinced Okala was better than Ogedegbe or Rufai better than Agu and Agbonivare.

Cellular wrote:

txj wrote:Enyeama was a top goalie, but its a travesty to compare him to Rufai, not to mention Okalla.

SMH at some of these people...

Enyeama was better than both.

The level of strikers Enyeama faced.
The level of defenders he had to play with.
The equipment that he had to contend with that gave the advantage to strikers.
His longevity on the job.
Plus, on multiple occasions, he was the best player on the field even to the point of winning MOM in a loss.

If you now go with stats... he is statistically better than all of them.

nanijoe wrote:Uzoho at this point is at least as good or Rufai and definitely better than Okala...Vincent is far and away the best goalkeeper Nigeria has ever had. In fact I'm not convinced Okala was better than Ogedegbe or Rufai better than Agu and Agbonivare.

Cellular wrote:

txj wrote:Enyeama was a top goalie, but its a travesty to compare him to Rufai, not to mention Okalla.

SMH at some of these people...

Enyeama was better than both.

The level of strikers Enyeama faced.
The level of defenders he had to play with.
The equipment that he had to contend with that gave the advantage to strikers.
His longevity on the job.
Plus, on multiple occasions, he was the best player on the field even to the point of winning MOM in a loss.

If you now go with stats... he is statistically better than all of them.

No! Please No! Not this man!

Nostalgia is an aphrodisiac.
Okalla or Rufai, with all due respect, were not in the same class as Enyeama.
I agree with deantito, in toto.

kalani JR wrote:Rufai had Keshi, Uche and Okafor in front of him. Enyeama had Yobo, Nwaneri and fat azz Danny Shittu.

Enyeama beats Rufai. Not even close.

Not even close by a very looong mile.

I can’t rate Okalla as he was not in goal for the 80 Nation’s Cup which was the first tournament I really watched the Eagles.
The Peter Rufai of 1981 to 1988 is by far, I repeat, by far, the best goalkeeper that has stepped in a Nigerian goal since 1980.
If you said Enyeama, I will suggest that you have not watched enough Nigerian football, in person and on TV, since 1980.

This argument is as ridiculous as those suggesting that Kanu (who is not even top 20 by any sensible criteria) is the greatest Super Eagle of all time.

The things you see and hear!

truetalk wrote:Not even close by a very looong mile.

I can’t rate Okalla as he was not in goal for the 80 Nation’s Cup which was the first tournament I really watched the Eagles.
The Peter Rufai of 1981 to 1988 is by far, I repeat, by far, the best goalkeeper that has stepped in a Nigerian goal since 1980.
If you said Enyeama, I will suggest that you have not watched enough Nigerian football, in person and on TV, since 1980.

Bro, i also grew up watching Rufai, but Enyeama is levels better. Prior to Enyeama's emergence Rufai was undisputed. This period you are talking of Rufai only faced African opposition and we will be deceiving ourselves if we don't acknowledge that African football was below in quality than at the Global stage. During the 80's Rufai played in the 1984 & 1988 AFCONs as we didn't qualify for 1986 edition. Apart from that he performed heroics for his Benin club side ( can't remember the name). But if that was at his best compare to Enyeama who had the second longest cleansheet minutes in Ligue 1 history in the 2013/14 season, nominated for player of the season in France that same year. MOM awards twice at the World Cup etc, not to talk of how he conquered Africa both with Enyimba (twice) and with the National team. 3 time CAF Africa best goal keeper. Rufai just is nowhere near.

truetalk wrote:Not even close by a very looong mile.

I can’t rate Okalla as he was not in goal for the 80 Nation’s Cup which was the first tournament I really watched the Eagles.
The Peter Rufai of 1981 to 1988 is by far, I repeat, by far, the best goalkeeper that has stepped in a Nigerian goal since 1980.
If you said Enyeama, I will suggest that you have not watched enough Nigerian football, in person and on TV, since 1980.

Mba, mba, mba!
Fa-fa-fa.....fowl!

Many of us watched live football in the 80s just like you did.
In fact people like me that lived virtually next door to the National stadium Surulere were in there for virtually every match. So we saw Okalla and Rufai in good times and bad times.

Rufai was great, but Enyeama was a different class.
And that is no disrespect to Rufai at all.

truetalk wrote:Not even close by a very looong mile.

I can’t rate Okalla as he was not in goal for the 80 Nation’s Cup which was the first tournament I really watched the Eagles.
The Peter Rufai of 1981 to 1988 is by far, I repeat, by far, the best goalkeeper that has stepped in a Nigerian goal since 1980.
If you said Enyeama, I will suggest that you have not watched enough Nigerian football, in person and on TV, since 1980.

"True"talk just lied to us...

nanijoe wrote:

Chief Ogbunigwe wrote:

chuks69 wrote:Rufai had an eye problem later in his career. headers from Corner kicks were almost a sure goal during Rufai's prime. Rufai was good, but france 98 rubbbished his legacy.
They are both the best two Gks we have had.. In overall Enyeama clinches it..

Okala was the best

Bros...if you see footage from those days, na so so laugh you go dey laugh


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67SBPQbumiU[/video]

That was a bad bobble though haba
Look at the pitch... It was atrocious!
Those Hafia guys were badasses though...

For me i will have to grudgingly give it to Enyeama but only just.

Rufai was a great goalie, anyone who says otherwise know nothing about Nigerian football. VEry sharp reflexes and very agile. Yes his 1998 performance has clouded his legacy somewhat but we all know he was seriously out of form and should in no way have been in the team, save for the injury crisis we had at the time.

Apart from his spell with Stores (his displays in their African cup winners cup run were amazing) he never played for a top side either in Nigeria or abroad. The fact that he was one of the first few African goalkeepers to play professionally in europe is a testament to his quality. He opened the door to the likes of ENyeama.

truetalk wrote:Not even close by a very looong mile.

I can’t rate Okalla as he was not in goal for the 80 Nation’s Cup which was the first tournament I really watched the Eagles.
The Peter Rufai of 1981 to 1988 is by far, I repeat, by far, the best goalkeeper that has stepped in a Nigerian goal since 1980.
If you said Enyeama, I will suggest that you have not watched enough Nigerian football, in person and on TV, since 1980.

Boss, Glad you tok say na 81 to 88.

Rufai was a pan with holes in 94... was a full basket in 98.

Enyeama's longevity is a testament of how good he was.

Again, look at the competition they faced.

Look at the calibre of defenders in front of the keepers.

Look at the Equipment that made balls fly like missiles.

Even Goals Against, Enyeama beat them.

truetalk wrote:Not even close by a very looong mile.

I can’t rate Okalla as he was not in goal for the 80 Nation’s Cup which was the first tournament I really watched the Eagles.
The Peter Rufai of 1981 to 1988 is by far, I repeat, by far, the best goalkeeper that has stepped in a Nigerian goal since 1980.
If you said Enyeama, I will suggest that you have not watched enough Nigerian football, in person and on TV, since 1980.

Look, if we had any keeper in our history that was, and I quote you, "by far, I repeat, by far" better than Enyeama, we'd have won the world cup by now....talkless of failing to qualify between 1980-1988.

I cannot claim to have been a fan of the eagles in the 80s, but this strains credulity. Its as close to impossible as I can think.

And the Rufai I saw in 1990-1994 was about as good as Shorunmu was in the late 90s/early 2000s...or as Carl Ikeme was before he went down to illness (yes, Carl Ikeme is one of the better keepers I've seen play for the eagles). Good, solid keeper....but won't call him great.

Enyeama is a few questionable crosses (every Nigerian keeper's nightmare) away from World Class. He was worth his weight in gold.

Looks for Gotti, Enugu II, Yeyeman, and The Ealge Fanta on the thread.

Not there. Sees TXJ. This might be a bit of a fight. 'As you were', after reading his contribution.

Rubs hands together in gleeful anticipation, and recalls stories about village champions with names like 'One blow, seven faint/die'.

This will be too easy. I'll come back to this when I have some time.

We're all here for the love of the game, & most of us even have good knowledge, but in terms of the history and context of the Red Devils/Green Eagles/Super Eagles, there are too many gaps, as evidenced on this thread

We can seek expertise from Dr. Damunk on Medicine & Nollywood.
Chairman Cellular on Nigeria, Politics, Economy, USA and almost anything.
Respect to the Hitman, BigP, DeanOtito & Co

But for anyone to suggest that Vince was anywhere close to the Rufai of 1981 to 1988 should not even justify a response.

Not the Rufai that came back to football after a six year break form the National team in 1994 after going to get a degree full time and becoming a businessman importing cars from Europe.

The Rufai, that was the Rufai.

I'll come back to this.

Lolly wrote:

kalani JR wrote:Rufai had Keshi, Uche and Okafor in front of him. Enyeama had Yobo, Nwaneri and fat azz Danny Shittu.

Anyone listing Uche Okafor (may he RIP) as top class for the SE, should not be having a serious discussion on Nigerian football