Stephen Kesh Died At 54

A former captain of the Nigeria national team, Stephen Keshi was one of only two men to win the Africa Cup of Nations both as a player and a coach.

One of African football's best-known figures, Stephen Keshi, has died at the age of 54, the Nigeria Football Association has said, his wife died not too long ago.
The ex- international lost his wife , Nkem Kate Keshi only last December. They had been married for 33 years. She died after a prolonged battle with cancer.

Keshi is survived by four children and his mother.

Meanwhile, a statement on Keshi’s death had been released by Emmanuel Ado, brother and aide to the late Keshi:

It said: “with thanksgiving to God, the Ogbuenyi Fredrick Keshi family of Illah in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State, announces the death of Mr. Stephen Okechukwu Chinedu Keshi”.

“Our son, brother, father, father-in-law, brother-in-law, has gone to be with his wife of 35 years (Nkem ), Mrs. Kate Keshi, who passed on on the 9th December 2015.

He also managed Togo and Mali, and his playing career included a spell for Belgian club side Anderlecht.

He is thought to have suffered a heart attack, local media reported.

As a player, Keshi was part of the Super Eagles team that won the Nations Cup in 1994 and narrowly missed out on a World Cup quarter-final place the same year.

He coached the national side over three spells, leading Nigeria to the 2013 Nations Cup title in South Africa and the last 16 at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

His contract was not renewed after the World Cup but he later returned on a match-by-match deal following the team's failure to reach the 2015 Nations Cup finals.

He was then sacked as caretaker coach but reinstated after intervention from then Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan. He was sacked for a final time last July.