Nigeria international Carl Ikeme has retired from active football after a year-long battle with Leukaemia. The 32-year old’s club, Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday announced the goalkeeper’s retirement on the club’s official Twitter handle.
Wolves announced on July 6, 2017 that Ikeme, capped nine times by Nigeria would spend time out of the game due to a case of acute leukaemia after he returned abnormal blood tests during a routine pre-season check-up.
There were renewed hopes that the England-born Nigerian star would return to the pitch after he announced on his Twitter handle last month that he is now on complete remission after intense chemotherapy.
Ikeme made his debut for the Super Eagles at the age of 29 when he started in the Nations Cup qualifier against Tanzania in Dar-es-Salaam under the new coach Sunday Oliseh in September 2015.
His last game for the Eagles was in their 2018 World Cup qualifying victory over Zambia at Ndola on October 9, 2016. He kept six clean sheets in the nine games he played for Nigeria, conceding four goals in the three games which he conceded in.
Ikeme had the enviable record of never losing a competitive game while in the colours of the Super Eagles.
