He came, saw and he conquered!
The world
woke to the sad news of the demise of Nigeria’s iconic football legends,
Stephen Okechukwu Keshi. According to a family source, Keshi popularly called “Big
Boss” by teammates and fans, died as result of cardiac arrest.
His brother
and manager, Emmanuel Ado, confirmed Keshi's death.
The
statement signed by Emmanuel Ado was titled: “Stephen Keshi CON has gone to be
with his wife”.
“With
thanksgiving to God, the Ogbuenyi Fredrick Keshi family of Illah in Oshimili
North Local Government Area of Delta State, announces the death of Mr. Stephen
Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi,” Ado wrote.
“Our son,
brother, father, father-in-law,brother-in-law, has gone to be with his wife of
35 years (Nkem), Mrs. Kate Keshi, who passed on the 9th December 2015.
“Since her
death, Keshi has been in mourning. He came back to Nigeria to be with her. He
had planned to fly back today Wednesday, before he suffered a cardiac arrest.
He has found rest”.
He is
survived by four children and his mother.
Keshi, a
product of St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka, Lagos, started his footballing career
at the young age of 17 with defunct Lagos football club, ACB, and later played
for New Nigeria Bank of Benin-City (alongside the likes of Samson Siasia,
Humphrey Edobor, Augustine Eguavoen and Henry Nwosu), Stade
d’Abidjan, Africa Sports, Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC
Strasbourg, and a host of other clubs.
He
represented Nigeria from 1981, at age 19, till 1995, most of the time
captaining the Super Eagles and scoring vital goals from his position as a
central defender.
 |
| With teammates after AFCON 1994 victory |
The Big Boss
made history as the only Nigerian to have won the Africa Cup of Nations as a
player and as a coach. He achieved this rare feat in 2013. He also became the
second African to win the trophy both as a player and a coach. The only
other person to have achieved the feat is Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary.
As coach, he
qualified an unlikely Togolese national team for the 2006 World Cup in Germany
but was sacked and replaced with German Otto Pfister, just before the
tournament.
He however,
achieved his dream to manage a team at the World Cup when he coached the Super
Eagles side to the tournament in 2014.
He is the
fifth member of the glorious 1994 Super Eagles team to die, after Uche Okafor,
Thompson Oliha, Rashidi Yekini and Wilfred Agbonavbare.
SENIOR CAREER
Year
|
Team
|
Appearances
|
Goals
|
1979
|
ACB, Lagos
|
10
|
1
|
1980-1984
|
New Nigeria Bank
|
42
|
4
|
1985
|
Stade d’Abidjan
|
13
|
2
|
1986
|
Africa Sports
|
22
|
2
|
1986-1987
|
Lokeren
|
28
|
6
|
1987-1991
|
Anderlecht
|
99
|
18
|
1991-1993
|
RC Strasbourg
|
62
|
9
|
1993-1994
|
RWD Molenbeek
|
40
|
1
|
1995
|
Central California Valley (CCV) Hydra
|
20
|
1
|
1996
|
Sacramento Scorpions
|
16
|
3
|
1997-1998
|
Perlis FA
|
34
|
4
|
TOTAL
|
386
|
51
|
NATIONAL TEAM
1981-1995
|
Nigeria
|
64
|
9
|
Keshi was
regarded as an iconic figure in a golden generation of Nigerian players that
included Finidi George, Rashidi Yekini, Jay-Jay Okocha, Samson Siasia, Daniel
Amokachi and Sunday Oliseh, and captained the team at the 1994 World Cup in the
USA. He made a total of 64 appearances for Nigeria and scored nine goals.
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