Stephen Keshi was in the twilight of his career when he captained Nigeria to seal their first ever World Cup. Nigeria just required a bring against Algeria in the last group A second point USA'94 World cup qualifying playoff in Algiers on Oct 8, 1993 to attain the finals.
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The
hosts picture in to an early on cause and were heading for success when
Finidi George struck to earn the Tremendous Eagles a place at USA'94.
Keshi
was in the heart of the defence marshalling Augustine Eguavoen, Uche
Okechukwu, Mary Iroha, while Rashidi Yekini light emitting diode the
attack. With Earth Pot World cup ticket in the case, Nigeria evolved to win the
1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia. Emmanuel Amuneke won twice in
the 2-1 beat of Zambia in the ultimate at the Stade El Menzah, Tunis.
A nagging injury restricted Keshi to two
matches in the tournament but he lifted the trophy as captain when his
deputy Eguavoen gave him the armband before the presentation ceremony. Keshi struggled with fitness at the
World Cup, forcing Dutchman Clemens Westerhof to play him in one match
– against Greece in the last group game of the championship.
Nigeria won 2-0 with Finidi and Daniel Amokachi on target in each half. After the end of his playing career,
Keshi managed the Flying Eagles and later assisted coach Shaibu Amodu to
secure qualification for the Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup. But they were
sent packing paving the way for coach Adegboye Onigbinde to pilot the
Eagles to the World Cup.
Keshi moved to Togo and helped the Hawks
qualify for their first ever World Cup. He was involved in a dispute
with the Togolese football officials, who denied him the opportunity to
take the Hawks to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The former Mali coach became the
second man in history to win the Africa Cup of Nations as a player and
a coach after Mohamed El Gohary of Egypt when Nigeria won the
continental showpiece in South Africa on February 10.
Keshi will make history as the first
Nigerian to qualify the country for the World Cup as a player and coach
and playing in the country’s first appearance at the tournament if the
Eagles pick up a draw in the return match of their 2014 World Cup
playoff against Ethiopia in Calabar on Saturday.
The ex-Strasbourg captain will also
become the first African coach to qualify two different countries for
different World Cups – 2006 and 2014.
Nigeria beat the Walya Antelopes 2-1 in
the first leg in Addis Ababa on October 13 and Keshi will bank on
in-form Fenerbahce striker Emmanuel Emenike to realise his dream of
leading Nigeria to Brazil.
The former Spartak Moscow star scored
Nigeria’s goals in the defeat of the Walya Antelopes in the first leg
and he has promised he won’t disappoint in Calabar.
“The game in Calabar will be tougher for
us than the one in Addis Ababa. We have to be careful and get ready for
another big business in Calabar,” FIFA.com quoted Emenike as saying during the week.
“Ethiopia are very good and they will be
coming here with more tricks. So, we shouldn’t see the first leg
victory as the end of road.”
Keshi said the Eagles would approach the encounter like a cup final.
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