The coach who guided the Golden Eaglets to victory in the inaugural U-17 World Cup in 1985, Sebastine Brodericks-Imasuen, has reportedly died.
Reports obtained by CityNews on Wednesday, January 3, revealed that the Nigerian coach had been on life support at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital for more than a year.
It was gathered that the deceased had been undergoing treatment for Ischemic stroke since December 2022, and sadly, he breathed his last at age 85.
This news platform understands that Ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot obstructs or narrows an artery that supplies blood to the brain.
These blood clots often form in arteries that have been damaged by the accumulation of plaques, a condition known as atherosclerosis.
The news of Brodericks-Imasuen’s demise was initially shared by one of the players he trained for the 1989 U17 World Cup in Scotland, Bamidele Oguntuashe.
Also, the Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force, Harrison Jalla, confirmed the news through a WhatsApp post, according to The PUNCH.
The news platform also quoted a family source to have reported the passing of the renowned coach, who had been confined to bed for several months. It is said that he suffered from both a stroke and diabetes.
The late coach was a notable figure in Nigerian football history. He was a member of the Nigerian team that competed in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, where he gained recognition for scoring a crucial goal from a free kick to secure victory in the Challenge Cup for Bendel Insurance in 1972.
As a coach, he played a pivotal role in the Nigerian team’s remarkable achievement in China in 1985, where they surprised the world. He led the team alongside Bala Shamaki and Christian Chukwu. In 1987, he once again guided the team to the final in Canada, narrowly losing to the then-Soviet Union in a penalty shoot-out.
During his coaching career, he also served as an assistant to Clemens Westerhof in the Super Eagles.
However, his journey in football began in 1956 when he represented the Onitsha team in the Challenge Cup as a student. He later joined ECN in 1962 and was part of the victorious Challenge Cup-winning squad in 1965.
Although he was initially called up to the national team in 1962, he became a regular player in the lead-up to the 1968 Olympic Games. He was particularly known for his skill in curving shots, especially from free-kick situations.
Renowned as ‘Sabara’, his most significant achievement as a club player occurred when he netted the decisive goal in Bendel Insurance’s 3-2 triumph over Mighty Jets of Jos in the replay of the 1972 Challenge Cup at the Liberty Stadium.
This marked the inaugural occasion when the national cup final took place outside Lagos.
Subsequently, he transitioned into coaching and successfully guided the Midwest junior team to secure a gold medal at the inaugural National Sports Festival in 1973.
