My Tributes to a legend, Stephen Keshi

Former Super Eagles coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi died yesterday

Keshi died suddenly in the early hours of Wednesday, June 8, 2016 in Benin City in southern Nigeria. He was planning to return to his base in the United States later that day.

After winning 64 Nigeria caps as a central defender between 1981-95, Keshi had three stints in charge of Togo before taking over as Nigeria coach in 2011. He also coached Mali between 2008-10.

He led Nigeria to the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations title, defeating Burkina Faso in the final in South Africa before guiding them to the second round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Along with Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary, Keshi is one of only two men to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player and coach.

His 20-year playing career included stints in Belgium, France, the United States and finally in Malaysia, with Perlis FA.

Nicknamed the “Big Boss” for his leadership skills, Keshi was part of the Super Eagles team that made the second round of USA ’94 before losing to eventual finalists, Italy in the Round of 16.

His friends say that Keshi was in good health and had no previous heart problems.was born in 23 January 1962.

Keshi was married to his wife Kate (née Abureme) for 33 years. She died on 10 December 2015, after battling cancer for three years. They had four children. Kesh’s playing career started at ACB Football Club, and later played for New Nigeria Bank, Stade d’Abidjan, Africa Sports, Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg.

He was also a football manager of the Nigeria national team and also coached in Togo and Mali.

In 2013 Keshi led Super Eagles Nigeria to qualification for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which they won by defeating Burkina Faso 1–0 in the final. Also Keshi led Super Eagles Nigeria to the 2013 Confederations Cup, were they defeated Tahiti 6–1, and lost 1–2 to Uruguay in the second game, and also lost 0–3 to World Cup winners, Spain in their final group game.

On 16 November 2013, Keshi’s Super Eagles secured qualification for the 2014 World Cup by beating Ethiopia 4–1 on aggregate in a play-off. On 18 November 2013, Stephen keshi set a record in African football by being the first African coach to successfully qualify two African nations (Nigeria and Togo) to the World Cup Finals.

He also helped Nigeria become the first country to achieve an African Cup of Nations trophy and World Cup qualification, both in 2013. On 25 June 2014, Keshi’s Super Eagles progressed to the knockout stage of 2014 World Cup. They started the tournament with a 0-0 draw against Iran, followed by a controversial 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

They lost the final group stage match 2-3 against Argentina, but progressed to the knockout stage, courtesy of a 3-1 win by Bosnia and Herzegovina over Iran. Keshi, went to Finbarr’s College, Akoka, Lagos, He represented Nigeria from 1982, at age 20, till 1994, most of the time captaining the Super Eagles and scoring vital goals from his position as a central defender.