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Death of Nigeria's Stephen Keshi a blow for African football

Tributes poured in on Wednesday after one of African football's best-loved figures, Stephen Keshi, died at the age of 54. The former Nigerian coach, affectionately dubbed "Big Boss" for his style of leadership, suffered a heart attack, barely six months after losing his wife to cancer.

Stephen Keshi, former coach of Nigeria
Stephen Keshi, former coach of Nigeria REUTERS/Henry Romero
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"We have lost a superhero", said the president of Nigeria's Football Federation Amaju Pinnick.

"A true legend," tweeted Nigeria and Fenerbahce striker Emmanuel Emenike.

Stephen Keshi was "a shining example of dedication to football and footballers," wrote for his part, Ghana Football Federation president Kwesi Nyantakyi.

And even beyond Africa's borders, clubs such as Chelsea in the UK, expressed their sadness at the death of the former Nigerian skipper and Super Eagles coach.

The outpouring of grief sparked by his death on Wednesday was unanimous.

In his life-time however, Keshi didn't always receive such support. Despite leading Nigeria's Super Eagles to victory in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and the last 16 of the World Cup a year later, he at times went months without pay, forcing the government to step in.

Only he and Egypt's Mahmoud El-Gohary can boast about winning the prestigious AFCON both as a player and a coach.

Under his leadership, teams like Nigeria, Togo and Mali, whom he coached also, were plucked from obscurity and given a platform to the outside world.

"Stephen Keshi was a proponent of indigenous players and also indigenous coaches," Nigerian analyst Namdi Anekwe-Chive told RFI.

"He believed in empowering local coaches and also local players. Seventy-five per cent of the team he took to the nations Cup were all indigenous players," he added.

This pan-African flair seemed to wane in the mid-1980s when Keshi joined Belgian club Anderlecht before moving to French side Strasbourg, and clubs in Malyasia and the United States.

It came back in the 2000s, when he took over the running of Togo and Mali, and remained when he returned to coach the Super Eagles.

He may have encountered ups and downs at the club, from which he was sacked last year, but his spirit remains.

"He was fighting for the right of local coaches to train their local teams. His message was that European coaches are not always the best for African teams," reckons Anekwe-Chive. "That's what the African football family will miss," he said.

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