African football is mourning the death of
former Nigeria coach and Captain Stephen Keshi, who passed away aged 54.
Keshi will be best remembered as a coach
but he also had a successful career as a player at club and international
level. Winning the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria was the highlight of
his international playing days.
As
a player he had stints in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Belgium, France and United
States of America. Keshi began his professional career with now-defunct
Nigerian side ACB of Lagos and his hometown club New Nigeria Bank of Benin
City.
His
first move abroad was not to Europe but to Ivory Coast where he won the
domestic cup with Stade Abidjan in 1985 and 1986, before moving to their local
rivals Africa Sports.
Stephen
Keshi is the only African to win the Confederation of African Football's Coach
of the year twice - in 2005 with Togo and 2013 with Nigeria
He
became known as the "Big Boss" during his playing days as he was one
of the first Africans to move to the European leagues in the 1980's.
Belgium
was his first port of call when he joined Lokeren, which in later years became
a popular destination for other African players.
Keshi's
compatriots Victor Ikpeba and Sunday Oliseh as well as Ghana's NiiLamptey also
played for Lokeren.
It
was at another Belgian side where Keshi really thrived, spending four years at
Anderlecht a side that he also captained.
While
at Anderlecht he won the Belgian Cup in 1988 and 1989 before helping them to
the league title in 1991.
After
that success, he moved across the border to French second division side RC
Strasbourg and is fondly remembered for scoring the second goal in a 4-1 win
over Rennes on 13 May 1992 which secured the team's promotion to the top
flight.
The
following season saw Keshi and Strasbourg finish in eighth place - their
highest ever finish in the top division - before he made a swift return to
Belgium with Molenbeek that summer.
His
return to Belgium was not the success he had hoped for and he eventually moved
to the United States to play for Jaguar Bay, San Jose and Sacramento Scorpions.
He
eventually ended his playing career in Malaysia with Perlis in 1995.
Keshi
earned more than 60 caps for Nigeria and won the 1994 Nations Cup with Super
Eagles, although injury prevented him from playing in the final against Zambia.
He
made two appearances, including as captain for their semi-final win over Ivory
Coast on penalties, but the Nigeria coach at the time, Clemens Westerhof,
refused to risk playing him in the final.
Later
that year Keshi, was part of Nigeria's squad at the World Cup in the United
States but another injury meant he played only once in the final group match
against Greece.
Once
his playing days were over he made the United States his home and went into
semi-retirement.
His first coaching experience came when his
daughter's elementary school were looking for a coach and she demanded that her
father helped out and gave his number to the principle.
And
so began his journey into coaching as he declared: "I was reborn and
discovered it was something I could do."
It
sparked his dream of one day coaching Nigeria but before he fulfilled that
aimhe took charge of both Togo and Mali and enjoyed success and disappointment
in both posts.
Not
many would have predicted that in his first job as a coach he could lead the
previously unheralded Togo to the 2006 World Cup finals, ahead of Senegal and
Zambia.
However,
he would have to wait another eight years to lead a team at the World Cup
finals because he was sacked by Togo just a few months before the tournament in
Germany.
He
lost his job after Togo crashed out of the Nations Cup in Egypt without winning
a single game and was replaced by Otto Pfister for the World Cup.
Togo
then re-hired him in 2007 but the Big Boss was unable to find the same success
with the Hawks and moved on a year later.
Then
while he was waiting for Nigeria to decide whether to offer him a job he was
approached by Mali, a chance that he accepted.
More
success came his way as he led Mali to the Nations Cup finals in Angola but
again he was unable to lead them past the group stages.
Keshi
finally got the call he had been hoping for in 2011 when the Nigeria Football
Federation (NFF) asked him to coach the Super Eagles.
The
next four years saw him earn his place in African football's history books but
his stint was also beset by seemingly constant arguments with the NFF.
He
became only the second person to win the Nations Cup as a player and a coach
and was also the first African to lead two different nations to the World Cup
finals.
At
the finals in Brazil in 2014 he led Nigeria to the second round and so is the
only African coach to appear in the knockout phase of a World Cup.
But
throughout this time there were constant rows with the NFF over unpaid salaries
and several attempts to ease him out of the job, including reports the
federation wanted to sack him during the 2013 Nations Cup finals.
Keshi
eventually stayed on and led the Super Eagles to their fifth World Cup finals
in Brazil, where they were eliminated in the second round, beaten 2-0 by
France.
Again
it appeared he had lost his job when he said his contract had not been renewed
but once more he was persuaded to continue in his role.
Just
a few months later it took the intervention of then-Nigeria president Goodluck
Jonathan to ensure Keshi remained in charge of the Super Eagles.
His
time in charge eventually came to an end in July 2015 when he was sacked amid
rumours he had applied to be Ivory Coast coach.
Keshi
did not get that post and did not work as a coach again before his untimely
death although he had once again begun looking for work.
After
spending time to mourn the death of his wife of more than 30 years, he had
started talks with South African club Orlando Pirates as well as the Guinea
national team.
Keshi
and his late wife Kate, who died in December after a battle with cancer, had
four children.
Keshi
is the fifth member of the so-called 'Golden Generation' of Nigerian
footballers who won in 1994 to die after UcheOkafor, Thompson Oliha,
RashidiYekini and Wilfred Agbonavbare.
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