Some of the World Cup's surprising performances so far have been from three African goalkeepers - Richard Kingson of Ghana, Vincent Enyeama of Nigeria (an IMScouting Player-to-Watch in 2009) and Itumeleng Khune of South Africa.

Enyeama, 27, and Khune, 22, have been considered to be great goalkeeping talents for some time now, while Kingson, 31, is the most experienced of the three, but all have had their ups and downs in their careers.

Enyeama, who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv , is considered to be the best goalkeeper in Israel, and his big breakthrough has been long overdue. His last international campaign at Angola 2010 in the African Cup of Nations was also somewhat of a disappointment.

Watch Vincent Enyeama stop Messi time and time again

Richard Kingson has been playing for many teams over the years, most recently for Wigan Athletic as a reserve goalkeeper. Kingson has appeared for a staggering nine sides since the year 2000, mainly playing in Turkey and in England, but never finding a real home for himself.

But for Ghana, things are very different.

Kingson is the team captain and has been first-choice stopper since 1996, winning 75 caps for his country. He was also selected this year in Angola 2010 for the all-star team of the tournament after leading Ghana to the final.

Itumeleng Khune plays for the Kaizer Chiefs in the South African league. At the age of 22, he has already received extensive praise, and in 2008, he was deservedly given the No. 1 jersey for South Africa, and has since won 29 caps for the national team.

Khune is one of the South African league's top goalkeepers, if not the number one.

Watch Khune's steller performance against Mexico:

 

African goalkeepers have had a reputation for being very agile, with great reflexes, while at the same time being unreliable and error-prone in key matches.

All of these three goalkeepers have received this kind of criticism during their careers, which could well have contributed to their failure to break in to bigger teams.

But so far in this World Cup, it appears that these three goalkeepers have got their acts together.

All three have displayed great ability standing firm behind their teams, showing great shot-stopping, stability and leadership in front of their goals – performances which could take their values higher and higher as the tournament progresses.In fact, IMScouting has learned that following his spectacular performance against Argentina, Enyeama's value has risen to three million euros.

Enyeama has already been linked with Arsenal, as reported by IMScouting, and considering his young age, Khune could well be the next 'keeper to be targeted by a big club, especially if South Africa manage to advance from Group A.