Without an iota of doubt, Late Stephen Keshi is the greatest captain and coach Nigeria has ever produced.
All through his years of service to the round leather game, Keshi excelled in all capacity of the sport. Here 10 things you should know about the late football icon
1. He started his playing career with the popular Lagos based side, African Continental Bank Football Club (ACB) in 1979 and New Nigerian Bank (NNB) from 1980 to 1984 in Edo state.
2. Keshi migrated to Cote d’Iviore where he had successful spells with Stade d’ Abidjan in 1985 and 1986 respectively scoring 4 goals in 35 league appearances for both clubs.
3. The ‘Big Boss’ had his breakthrough career in Belgium where he signed for Lokeren in the 1986/1987 season and immediately caught the eye of Anderlecht the following year. Keshi was exceptionally good and possessed leadership qualities which earned him the capacity to serve as captain of Anderlecht after just one season. In his four-year spell at the club, he won back-to-back Cup titles in 1988 and 1989 also leading his team to a league win in 1991. Keshi was not done yet as he led his team to the quarter finals of the Champions League the following season which they eventually lost out to Giannluca Vialli-led Roma.
4. A dependable member of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Sports Transformation Agenda which saw Nigeria winning 3 major trophies in 9 months.
Following the achievement, the mystero of Nigerian football became the first African coach to qualify two African teams for the World Cup which was Togo and Nigeria.
5. He played alongside Nigerian teammate Augustine Eguavoen in the United States with Sacramento Scorpions in 1996 also moving to Central California Valley Hydra (CCVH) for another stint with an American club. He also played for Malaysian side, Perils FA in the concluding part of his career.
6. Keshi blossomed in the national team playing for 14 years from 1981 to 1995 where he featured in five Nations Cup including the victorious Tunisia 94′. He was popularly known for being a mafia whereby deciding who should be at the starting XI of the Super Eagles.
7. All through his years in the United States, Keshi acquired a certificate in coaching an tested his wits by becoming the Togolese national team coach from 2004-2006 where he historically qualified the Hawks to their first World Cup in 2006. However he did not lead the West African side to the World Cup in Germany because of a dismal outing in the 2006 Nations Cup with Togo but Keshi was recalled after German coach Otto Pfister failed at Germany 2006 World Cup.
8. His resume for coaching grew as his took the job for as coach of the Malian national team in 2008 but was sacked two years after Mali did not progress beyond the group stage at the Africa Nations Cup.
9. Keshi’s turning point in his coaching career was when he served his fatherland in 2011 as his was coach of the Super Eagles of Nigeria. He came as at the time Nigeria failed to qualify for the Nations Cup. In the 2013 edition play hosted by South Africa, the Big Boss qualified and won the AFCON title also qualified Nigeria to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Keshi guided Nigeria to the Confederation Cup an World Cup in Brazil but failed to qualify from the group phase and his contract was not renewed afterwards. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter House of Reps summons Oliseh Stephen Keshi
10. The versatile defensive midfielder also played with Strasbourg in Ligue 1 in France before moving back to Belgium for another spell with a Racing White Daring (RWD) in the 1993/1994 season.
