Keshi on the verge…

But it will define no other person’s career than that of Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, who will be making history as the first manager to take the Eagles to the quarter finals of the FIFA senior World Cup (it will only be the fourth time an African team has achieved the feat in 12 attempts)Outside the […]

But it will define no other person’s career than that of Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, who will be making history as the first manager to take the Eagles to the quarter finals of the FIFA senior World Cup (it will only be the fourth time an African team has achieved the feat in 12 attempts)
Outside the national team, Keshi had a modest professional playing career that spanned 19 years with mostly Belgian teams that included Anderlecht and Lokeren. He then went to the United States for his coaching education in 1999.
His coaching career evolved quickly from 2001 when he first took charge of Nigeria’s Under 17 national team that competed at the African Youth Championship that year. The experience ended in disappointment as Keshi’s team failed to do well at the event which also served as the qualification channel to the FIFA World Youth Championship.
After stints as Eagles Assistant Manager to both Shuaibu Amodu and former teammate Austin Eguavoen, Keshi came to global limelight when he took charge of the highly unfancied Togolese national team and unexpectedly qualified them for their first World Cup tournament, “Germany 2006”. Having secured Togo’s unlikely qualification, he was promptly replaced by German coach Otto Pfister on the eve of the World Cup finals.
Keshi’s next stop was Bamako, Mali in 2008 where he signed a two-year deal to be the Eagles of Mali manager. But he was sacked in January 2010, after Mali’s early exit in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Since he assumed the position of Eagles manager in 2011, a lot has happened. He did away with the old guards  and built his own team to suit his philosophy which he used to mastermind the clinching of Nigeria’s third AFCON crown last year.
His relationship with the Nigeria Football Federation hasn’t been cozy due to perceived lack of respect for indigenous coaches.
“Let’s get this right,” Keshi told a press conference in Durban ahead of last year’s Cup of Nations semifinal clash against Mali . “I’m never against a white coach in Africa because I have always worked with white coaches. What I’m saying is that you do not bring a mediocre coach or a carpentry coach from Europe and tell me he’s better than me. That I will not accept.”
After Nigeria’s first match against Iran at the ongoing World Cup, Keshi reiterated his stance. “African coaches are being seen as inferior to other ones and it is more painful when that kind of wrong assessment comes from your own country”.
The media also got a taste of the manager’s other side when he accused them of creating confusion after the drab draw with Iran in Curitiba “They like to blow things out of proportion to cause confusion but I still thank some sections of the media for the huge support they have given me”.
Keshi’s recent outburst is seen by many as his inability to handle pressure when the going gets tough and with South Afirca touted  likely to