Late Super Eagles player and coach, Stephen Keshi, in spite of exiting at only 54, left his footprints in the sands of time.
Here are 22 we believe will interest you…
1. His full names were Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi.
2. In his playing days, he was popularly known as the Big Boss.
3. He was born on January 23, 1962, meaning he was aged 54 at death.
4. He was a native of Illah, in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State.
5. He was a renowned defender and master libero in his active days.
6. Besides the Super Eagles which he played for, captained and later coached, he was also the coach of Togo and Mali national teams.
7. Till date, he remains the only coach to have taken the Togolese national team to the World Cup.
8. He’s the only Nigerian and the second African to have won the Nations’ Cup as a player and coach.
9. His first professional football club in Nigeria was ACB Football Club, and from there New Nigerian Football Club.
10. Internationally, he laced his boots for clubs like Stade d’Abidjan, Lokeren, Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg, all in Belgium, etc.
11. He scored 9 goals for the Eagles, donned their jersey 64 times and played for Eagles between 1981 and 1995.
12. He served as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2001 African Youth Championship.
13. He spoke French and English effortlessly.
14. He won the African Nations Cup in 1994 as a captain and as a coach in 2013.
16. His wife of 33 years, Kate, died on December 9, 2015 after losing a long battle with cancer.
17. Keshi is survived by four children and his mother.
18. He didn’t suffer fools gladly, in spite of his gentle looks.
19. He was always wearing a smile and chewing gum.
20. He paved the way for most of our players going professional internationally.
21. He was one of the blessed footballers to have played at the World Cup, Olympics and Nations Cup.
22. He played in the Super Eagles alongside Austin Eguavoen, Daniel Amokachi, Emmanuel Amuneke…