As Nigeria’s most decorated FA Cup winner goes home

 

BY GEORGE ALUO

BLACK Week for Nigerian football! It couldn’t have passed for anything else, given the calamity that befell the nation following the death of the duo of former Super Eagles coaches, Stephen Oke­chukwu Chinedu Keshi and Shuaibu Amodu.

The death of both coaches has jolted not just the nation’s football but that of Africa and the world from where tributes have been coming.

Although Keshi died first precisely on Wednesday June 8, Amodu who died three days later was the first to “kiss” mother earth having been buried yesterday in line with the tenets of his muslim faith.

The two late coaches left indelible marks and records that would be difficult to sur­pass. Little wonder the world is mourning them.

While Keshi remains the only Nigerian that has won the Nations Cup both as a player and coach, Amodu who was Keshi’s boss in the Super Eagles remains Nige­ria’s most decorated FA Cup coach. Amodu won the na­tion’s most glamorous soccer diadem with the now disband­ed BCC Lions of Gboko and El Kanemi Warriors in 1989, 1992, 1993 and 1994. He won the Nigeria League and Cup double in 1994, and won the Super Cup in 1989, 1993 and 1994.

Who says death has not hit Nigerian football below the belt! Sad, very sad. However, consolation comes from the fact that though both Keshi and Amodu died young, they came to the world, saw and conquered in their chosen profession.