Super Eagles coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, belonged in the golden and nostalgic era of Nigerian football when the national teams were a force to reckon with in Africa. Fondly called the 'Big Boss' by his admirers, Keshi, who hails from Illah in Delta State, started his schoolboy playing career at Ebenezer Primary School in the Costain suburb of Lagos and later, St. Finbarrs College, Akoka, where his soccer career blossomed.At St. Finbarrs, the young Keshi became a 'warlord,' leading the school to conquer all opposition in the prestigious Principal's Cup. He was barely four years in the college when he took over as the team's biggest player from midfield maestro, Emeka James, who had left the school. From there, Keshi graduated to the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) Greater Tomorrow team and later the Flying Eagles. He was captain of ACB before he joined NNB, where he and the likes of Sunday Eboigbe and Bright Omakaro marshaled one of the meanest defences any Nigerian team has ever had. He captained Nigeria for 11 years, and played for the senior team for 13 years. But his career, and in deed Nigerian football, was changed positively when he was banned for a year by the NFA for reporting late to the national team camp. Following the ban, Keshi moved to Abidjan, where he started his professional career with Stade. He later crossed to Belgium, where he paved the way for other Nigerian footballers while he was featuring for Anderlecht and Lokeren FC. He also played for Strasbourg of France, where he became the first African to lead a French first division side as Captain. Among other achievements as a coach, Keshi qualified little fancied Hawks of Togo for the Germany 2006 World Cup and also coached the Eagles of Mali, which he led to the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola.Speaking with GOWON AKPODONOR during the week, Keshi narrated the story of his life, revealing how he brushed aside the advice of his father, who was vehemently against his football career in the early days, to become one of Africa's most visible stars. He also spoke on the importance of sports in the school curriculum.DESTINY, they say, has a way of playing out in the life of a man. Perhaps, if Stephen Keshi had followed the advice of his father, he would have ended up as a doctor, lawyer or engineer, which probably would have denied many soccer-loving Nigerians the opportunity of watching him perform wonders on the pitch, both as a player and as a coach.Keshi was born on January 31, 1962, in Azare, Bauchi, in the then North-Eastern State, but was actually brought up in Lagos. He is a native of Illah in Delta State.'When I was a kid, my dad was against my choice of playing football,' Keshi told The Guardian. 'He would say my son, I want you to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer. That was his gospel everyday. But I won't say the same about my mum because she was always encouraging me to go on with my football career. I am not trying to play down the contribution of my father towards my upbringing, but if I had really listened to him, I wouldn't have achieved anything in football.'Keshi was still at infantry stage when his parents relocated from Bauchi to Lagos, where he began his elementary education at Ebenezer Primary School in Costain, Ebute-Metta area of the state in the late 1960s.His soccer career may have been planted at Ebenezer Primary School, but it was nurtured to stardom the moment he gained admission into St. Finbarrs College in the early 1970s.Speaking with The Guardian on the eve of Super Eagles international friendly match against the Chipolopolo of Zambia in Kaduna on Tuesday, which Nigeria won 2-0, Keshi said: 'I was born with football blood flowing in my veins. As a kid, one of the things I enjoyed so much was playing soccer on the streets of Ebute-Metta. I had a lot of friends then and as soon as we returned from school, the next thing was to take to the street for football.'At times, I trekked a long distance from Ebute-Metta to Boundary in Ajegunle or Orile Iganmu to join others in playing the game. But it did not stop me from helping my parents in the normal house chore when the need arose.'On completion of his elementary education at Ebenezer Primary School, the young Keshi gained admission to St Finbarrs College, Akoka, which was a Mecca of sports in Lagos and the country at that time.The movement to St Finbarrs provided Keshi the golden opportunity to take his football development to greater height. He was in form four when he took command of the school's football team.With a feeling of nostalgia, Keshi relishes his experience at St. Finbarrs, saying: 'I won't be able to recall everything that happened during my days at St. Finbarrs, but I still remember that our era was a great one for the college. My team captain then was Nathaniel Ogedegbe, who is now based in the United States of America. There were several other great players in the team. We were the team to beat in the Principal's Cup competition in Lagos State at that time. One particular match I won't forget in a hurry was our final against Zumratul Islammiyah School. We won the game but the boys from Zumratul gave us a tough time.'Fresh from St. Finbarrs, the young Keshi was drafted into the Greater Tomorrow squad, a team that was established by the NFA to serve as a Feeder Team to other national teams. The likes of Paul Okoku, Henry Nwosu, Franklin Howard, Edema Benson and Taju Disu were products of the Greater Tomorrow teams.While Henry Nwosu, who was Keshi's teammate at St. Finbarrs, featured in 1980 African Cup of Nations held in Lagos, Keshi did not play, but the 'Big Boss' rose through the junior ranks to become one of Nigeria's most famous players.He played his way into the Flying Eagles team and was part of Nigeria's first U-21 team in 1979. He graduated to the senior team and won his first cap against Burkina Faso (then known as Upper Volta) in a friendly match in 1981. Nigeria won that match 1-0.After being surprisingly kept on the bench for the crucial Espana '82 World Cup qualifying game against Algeria (Nigeria lost the first leg 2-0 in Lagos), Keshi would not look back again. He was in the squad to the 1982 African Cup of Nations in Libya, and played in four more Nations Cup finals: 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1994.In all these four editions, he won medals, the best being the gold medal at the Tunisia 1994 edition of the competition.He became the national team captain in 1982 and led the Green Eagles to the final of the 1984 edition, where they lost to Cameroun, despite taking the lead in Abidjan through late Mudashiru Babatunde Lawal. That gave him silver.Nigeria failed to qualify for the 1986 African Cup of Nations (hosted by Egypt) after a harsh disciplinary measure by the then NFA kept Keshi and some of the big stars out of the squad. They were handed a ban for reporting later to camp.The ban turned out to be a blessing for Keshi and Nigeria, as he led a mass exodus of players abroad for professional career in 1985. As at the time of the ban, Keshi was captain of the defunct NNB of Benin. He had crossed from ACB (also defunct) to NNB in 1980.Keshi would not wait to see his bubbling football career ruined by some 'enemies of progress' in the soccer house, so he took his trade to Cote d'Ivoire, where he started his professional career with Stade d'Abidjan.After a season with the club, he moved to African Sports before his sojourn to Europe to join Lokeren, a Belgian side in 1986.He also played for other European clubs such as Anderlecht, RC Strasbourg and Molenbeek at different times. He left for the USA in 1995, where he played for CCV Hydra and later Sacramento Scorpions. He ended his career with a Malaysian side, Perlis FA, in 1997.While playing abroad, Keshi flew in to represent Nigeria at the Maroc '88 Nations Cup, where the Eagles lost in the final, again to Cameroon. He got another silver.At Senegal '92, Keshi showed what leadership was all about in a game against the host country. Nigeria had taken the lead through Samson Siasia, but a mistake by Keshi allowed Senegal to level with minutes remaining in the first half. The 'Big Boss' roused his teammates and in the second half, scored the winning goal from outside the box.Nigeria lost to the Abedi Pele-led Black Stars of Ghana in the semifinals, but overpowered Cameroon 2-1 in the third place match to give Keshi a 'golden bronze'.Two years later, it was party time in Tunisia. On April 10, 1994, the Eagles defeated Zambia 2-1 in Tunis and even though Keshi was injured and did not play most of the matches, he was the leader and the rallying point.At the end, the team's stand-in skipper, Augustine Eguavoen, handed the trophy to Keshi ' his gold medal in the Nations Cup.He led the Eagles to qualify for the World Cup for the first time with the decisive qualifier against Algeria again bringing out the leader in the Nigerian captain. Keshi, still mindful of the effects of being left out of a similar game against the same Algerians 12 years earlier, played through pains to ensure the Eagles secured the draw in Algiers, which Nigeria needed to earn a ticket to USA '94.His last cap was against Greece at the USA '94 World Cup on June 30, which the Super Eagles won 2-0 to jump over Argentina and top group D.To appreciate his contributions to Nigerian football, the NFA in 2000, organized a testimonial match, the first of its kind in the country, for the 'Big Boss' in Lagos.Thereafter, he went to the United States for his coaching education, where Augustine Eguavoen joined him in 1996.Keshi's first stint as coach of the Nigerian National team was in 1999, when he was named alongside Shaibu Amodu and Joe Erico as assistants to Dutchman, Johannes Bonfrere.When Bonfrere was sacked in 2001 during the qualifiers for the 2002 World Cup, he (Keshi) assisted Amodu to qualify the team for the World Cup.However, he was swept away in the gale of sack that engulfed the entire technical crew despite winning a golden bronze at the Mali 2002 Nations Cup.Between 2004 and 2006, Keshi coached the Togo national football team and against all expectations, qualified the country to her first World Cup, Germany 2006. He later coached Mali, where he worked on a two-year deal in 2008. Keshi's romance with Mali ended in January 2010, after the country's exit at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.Like the case of a patient dog eating the fattest bone, Keshi's opportunity to coach the Super Eagles came this November, when he was named as replacement for Samson Siasia, who was sacked for failing to qualify the team for the 2012 Nations Cup. Keshi had come second in the first interview that brought Siasia late last year, a decision he took in good fate.In 17 years (since 1994), Keshi is the 19th coach to handle the Super Eagles. He started the journey last Saturday with a 0-0 draw with Botswana in a friendly match in Benin City, before grabbing a 2-0 win in his second game against Zambia in Kaduna on Tuesday.Looking back to his schoolboy days at Ebenezer Primary School and St Finbarrs College in Lagos, the 'Big Boss' said: 'I give God the glory for the success I have recorded in football, both as a player and a coach. I was privileged to belong to a generation of great footballers both at St. Finbarrs College and the Super Eagles.'The discipline and tutorial I received as a schoolboy player at St. Finbarrs contributed so much to the success of my football career and I want children of today to take a cue from it.'Parents should encourage their children to take to sporting activities in school because it is not just a good exercise for them, but a way of cultivating discipline and building their career from childhood.'On the part of the government, I want to advise that we should cultivate the culture of maintaining our sporting facilities and also providing new ones. We were successful in the past, so, why not now''As coach of the Super Eagles, one major area I want to do is to try as much as possible to encourage the local players. This, I think, will go a long in helping to revive the local leagues,' Keshi stated.
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