Nigeria football this year have had it very difficult both on and off the pitch. From the painful scenes in Lagos of a promising Flying Eagles team fall to Sudan and news of the Eaglets dumped out of the race to reach the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations.
Among other things the power tussle and internal wranglings among the top guns of the NFF ; rocking the boat, almost capsized what is now a battered vessel trying to make port.
But above all nothing could have been more devastating as the news of the death of Stephen Okechukwu Keshi on 7 June.
His death followed, days later by that of Amodu Shuaibu, ripped something essential from the football fraternity at home and abroad.
The significance of Keshi’s passing may not have struck home immediately, but it resonated and as the world mourned it became clear that not only had the Country lost a hero or former Captain; Stalwart on and off the pitch, an African Colossus and global Son had passed quietly.
On Wednesday, football’s World Governing body,FIFA , remember its fallen Stars in 2016, and here’s how they captured the memory of a Footballer that should never fade.
” Very few football observers foresaw Nigeria’s victory at the 2013 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, but Stephen Keshi had other ideas, steering his side to the final, where they saw off Burkina Faso 1-0 in Johannesburg. A few months later, he led the Super Eagles to the 2014 World Cup after successfully negotiating a tricky two-legged play-off with Ethiopia; at the tournament proper, they reached the knockout stages. During his tenure, Nigeria also participated in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. But the astute Nigerian was not just a talented coach: during his playing career he also lifted the Cup of Nations and took part in five qualifying matches for USA 1994, which resulted in his country qualifying for a World Cup for the very first time. At the tournament itself, he was restricted to one appearance – where he proudly wore the captain’s armband – due to injury. Keshi died on 7 June 2016 in Nigeria.”
credit: footballlive