FIFA remembers late Stephen Keshi, others

The world football governing body, FIFA, on Wednesday, published an article on its website attributed to stars of the round leather game who went yonder in 2016, including erstwhile Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi.

In an article it titled, “The faces who left us in 2016”, FIFA remembered Trifon Ivanov as the ‘Cornerstone of the Bulgarian defence’, Raul Sanchez as ‘Chile’s stalwart defender’, Johan Cruyff as ‘The Dutch master’, Cesare Maldini as ‘The rock of Milan’, and Stephen Keshi as a ‘National hero on and off the pitch.’

Keshi, who died on the 7th of June 2016 in Nigeria, earned 60 caps for the national football team, making him the nation’s second-most capped player at the time of his retirement. He represented the country at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations, captaining the Super Eagles to victory in the latter.

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And here was how FIFA captured the memory of the football manager who did qualify Togo for their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2006:

“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.”

Included also in the article by FIFA were, former FIFA President Joao Havelange, who served from 1974 to 1998; Brazilian World Cup legend, Carlos Alberto Torres; the creator of the iconic World Cup trophy, Silvio Gazzaniga; and the Chapecoense football club that lost almost all their players and staff in a tragic air crash about a month ago in Colombia.

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