Five goalkeepers were shortlisted for the award, they include Manuel Neuer(Germany/Bayern Munich), Claudio Bravo(Chile/Barcelona), Thibaut Courtois(Belguim/Chelsea fc), Iker Casillas(Spain/Real Madrid) and Gianluigi Buffon(Italy/Juventus).
In the year under review, the 32 year old Nigerian was outstanding for both club and country and it leaves little to be desired about the criteria used by FIFA for selection.
For club Lille, the Nigerian shone throughout the season helping them to a third place finish thereby secuiring champions league qualification. He kept 11 consecutive clean sheets in the process, meaning he played 1,062 minutes without conceeding and was 114 minutes away from equaling Gaetan Huards ligue 1 goalkeeping record set in 1993.
The former Enyimba of Aba safe pair of hands surprisingly lost to Italy and Paris Saint German keeper Salvatore Sirigu for the 2014 ligue 1 goalkeeper of the year award.
He was deservedly awarded the best African player in the french ligue 1 after a fantastic season.
In the summer of 2014, Vincent Enyeama was part of the Nigerian squad to the world cup in Brazil and the Lille man didnt just travel to make up the numbers.
He kept two straight clean sheets in Nigeria's'first two games, a goalless draw with Iran and a 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He however conceeded thrice against Argentina in Nigeria's final group game.
His remarkable performance was noted as he was voted fourth best goalkeeper at the Mundial ahead of the likes of Iker Casillas, Gianluigi Buffon, Joe hart and other top keepers.
Its rather surprising to note that FIFA didnt dim it fit to nominate Enyeama for this award after having a better impact in 2014 for both club and country than most of the shortlisted candidates.
However, the 32 year old was nominated by both CAF and BBC for African footballer of the year 2014.