Former Nigerian head coach Stephen Keshi has died at age 54.
The Nigerian football icon reportedly died suddenly in the early hours of today, Wednesday in Benin City, Edo state.
He was rushed to Faith Medical Center, Benin around 12 midnight, after he
complained of pains which got worse. He was said to have died seated on the
front passenger’s seat of the car used to rush
him in.
Stephen Keshi was scheduled to return to the United States on Wednesday evening
before he suffered this cardiac arrest. Mr. Keshi lost his wife of 33
years, Kate, to cancer last year.
that 5 months later, this was going to happen.One of his friends also told TheCable.ng:
showed any signs of illness, but we suspect he never got over the death of his
wife.”
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.