Nigeria Coach, Stephen Kechi |
Nigeria's
third Africa Cup of Nations title, clinched here Sunday against Burkina Faso,
was a huge personal triumph for coach Stephen Keshi -- although the man himself
would be loathe to admit it.
Big Boss, as
the captain of the 1994 title-winning side is affectionately known, was hitting
the continental jackpot as a coach at the third time of asking, after
first-round knockouts with Togo in 2006 and Mali in 2010.
Part of the
key to the Super Eagles' 2013 success has been the 51-year-old's bold yet
heavily criticised gamble in calling up local-based players.
And,
fittingly, it was one of this number, Sunday Mba, drawn from Nigerian league
outfit Enugu Rangers, who got the decisive goal in the 1-0 victory to follow up
his winner in the quarter-final over Ivory Coast.
Keshi had
described his players as 'his Hollywood Stars' after sending Didier Drogba and
company packing -- but he, too, deserves an Oscar for defying the tens of
millions of ultra-critical wannabe national managers back home in Lagos.
At times
charismatic, belligerent, terse and witty, but never dull, the former bull of a
centre-back gained entry to an exclusive club of those to be crowned kings of
Africa as both player and coach.
The only
other man to accomplish that feat was the late Egyptian Mahmoud El Gohary, who
helped his country defeat Sudan 2-1 in the 1959 final and guided the Pharaohs
to a 2-0 victory over South Africa 39 years later.
As a player,
Keshi triumphed with a golden generation of Super Eagles in a 2-1 victory
against a Zambia team rebuilt one year after the plane crash off Gabon that
wiped out the national squad.
Reflecting
on the differences between then and now, Keshi, who spent most of his playing
career in Belgium, said: "The 1994 squad was unbelieveable.
"We
were brothers, there was a great spirit in the team, now there is the talent,
but we need a strong mentality and character."
His band of
brothers demonstrated plenty of that here on Sunday night.
This win
also laid to rest the bitter memories of the 1996 Nations Cup, when Keshi and
his fellow Eagles were denied a shot at defending their title on South African
soil when a political spat between the South African and Nigerian goverments
kept them at home.
Fast forward
17 years and the imposing figure of Keshi could be seen pacing the Soccer City
touchline like a lion hunting its prey up at Kruger National Park -- barking
instructions, arms flailing, his shaven head glistening under the floodlights.
On 40
minutes he had his arms in the air celebrating Mba's opener.
Mba it was
who had scored the winner in the 2-1 quarter-final win over Ivory Coast --
after which Keshi, showing his caring gentler side, said "I want to kiss
him!"
He has shown
plenty of dignity, too, in South Africa.
On Saturday,
at the eve-of-final press conference when he turned up looking like a Lagos
street rapper, his baseball cap back to front, he warmly backed the decision to
rescind the red card meted out to Burkina's Jonathan Pitroipa.
When the
final whistle sounded on Sunday, barely audible over the deafening din of
80,000 vuvuzelas (plastic trumpets), Keshi punched the air again, this time in
a victory salute -- before getting lost in a sea of embraces from his players
and coaching staff.
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