USA 1994 World Cup star and former Nigeria international Peter Rufai has defended Lille custodian Vincent Enyeama on the howler he committed in last weekend's World Cup qualifier against Malawi in Blantyre.

Right at the end, Reuben Gabriel had given Nigeria a lead. But in added time, Enyema's lack of concentration gifted the Flames an unlikely equalizer. The punchline? Nigeria dropped two points in a game they could have won and cemented their place in the group standings.

''It has to do with goalkeeping at this level. Goalkeeping is a very sensitive profession. A goalkeeper is a human being like you and I. A goalkeeper will play a 90 minutes game for 1 year, series of 90 minutes or 120 minutes from the age of 17 or from the age 18 consistently at a very top standard for the national team and club side .

''You will see that players on the pitch have made one blunder or the other, not once, not two times, not three times, not four times. If you recall and watch slides of the Euro 2012 going on, you will see blunders occurring with international and highly paid professional players,'' Peter Rufai told Naija FM

The former Farense goalkeeper added: ''This is telling you that we are human beings and liable to mistakes of one or the other anytime, any day. Vincent Enyeama’s case is not exceptional that we should bother about. All we need to do is hail him, motivate him and say to him: ''Boy you have been doing it, and it's one of those things in the game.''

Peter Rufai's last game for the Super Eagles was at the France 1998 World Cup against Denmark in the second round, where he conceded four goals against the Scandinavians.

Sam Mbonu