The Nigerian football icon Stephen Okechukwu Keshi died suddenly in the early hours of Wednesday in Benin City, Edo state.

The former international football player and coach had lost his wife of 33 years, Kate, last year after a prolonged battle with cancer.

Newsmen confirmed his death from a member of his family as well as one of his close associates.

“He was not ill at all, never showed any signs of illness, but we suspect he never got over the death of his wife,” a friend said.

He is survived by four children and his mother.

Keshi, is the only Nigerian coach to have won the Africa Cup of Nations, achieved a rare feat in 2013 by becoming only the second person 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.

Keshi, a product of St. Finbarr’s College, Akoka, Lagos, started his playing career at a very young age at ACB Football Club, and later played for New Nigeria Bank, Stade d’Abidjan, Africa Sports, Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg, and a host of other clubs.

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.

He also coached Togo and Nigeria at the World Cup, as well as Mali.

Keshi, nicknamed the “Big Boss” for his leadership skills, is the fifth member of the all-conquering 1994 team to die, following Uche Okafor, Thompson Oliha, Rashidi Yekini and Wilfred Agbonavbare. . Played for A Lot Of Clubs All Over the World

When he was playing himself, he was a center back. He participated in 386 games and scored 61 goals. He played in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. He received training in the USA.

-His career as a coach started in Togo. Keshi led their team to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. Before taking Nigeria, he coached Mali. He thinks African teams must have more African coaches. And that it will be better than to hire less-competitive Europeans


- He didn’t apply to be a coach

He stated that he has never applied to be a coach for Nigerian team. It just happened that in 2000, he was invited to assist Bonfere Jo. And in 2013 Keshi coached Nigerian team to victory in the African Cup of Nations, defeating Burkina Faso 1–0 in the final. The next day, the coach resigned for unknown reasons. But the he returned a day later and reversed the resignation. Later in 2013 he led Nigeria to the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil where the Super Eagles ended up losing to Spain in the final match of Group B.

-He makes controversial squad decisions

Of course, when it comes to national teams, it is hard to pick up 23 players for the World Cup, especially in a country full of talented players. But the decisions of the Big Boss cause a lot of debates. For example, he excluded Ejike Uzoenyi, voted as the Most Valuable Player after the 2014 African Nations Championship in South Africa.

-He has his own sense of style

He will never put on white trousers or a suit. He just doesn’t feel comfortable in it. So often times, he wears just a track suit of Nigerian colours. Keshi is quite a reserved person. He prefers to spend his free time with his wife at home. Even when he was young
he didn’t like partying. Keshi is a person of self-discipline.

RIP the "big boss"



source:http://www.maquinsblog.com/2016/06/facts-that-you-might-not-know-about.html?m=1

rip