Nigerian football icon Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi has died.
Daily Sun gathered that the former Coach of the
Super Eagles died suddenly in the early hours of Wednesday in Benin City, Edo
state.
He was scheduled to return to the United States on
Wednesday evening before he suffered cardiac arrest.
The former international football player and coach
had lost his wife of 35 years, Kate, last year after a prolonged battle with
cancer.
Keshi who was shortlisted for a coaching job with a
top South African club side was billed to be in Johannesburg during the week.
He was said to be joggling between that trip and
another trip to the United States where his nuclear family still lives.
It was gathered that he was also contemplating
bringing his children and family to Nigeria, following the death of his wife,
before he also died
“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, 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.
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