TheCable

Stephen Keshi, former Super Eagles captain and coach, has been honoured with a Google doodle on his posthumous birthday.

Keshi, who would have clocked 56 today, excelled as an influential captain for the Eagles and also achieved a lot as a coach.

Nicknamed ‘Big Boss’, Keshi had 64 international caps as a player. His international debut was a friendly match against Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) on July 18, 1981.

His last international game as a player was a 2-0 defeat of Greece in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

After his success as a player, Keshi took up a coaching role. When he became coach of the Togo national team, he brought his trademark passion with him.

Against all odds, Keshi helped Togo qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

In 2011, he became the Nigerian national team coach, cementing his place in African and world football history.

As coach of the Nigerian team, Keshi won the African Cup of Nations in 2013, and in 2014, he became the first coach of an African nation to make it to the knockout round of a World Cup.

Keshi is one of only two men to win the Africa Cup of Nations as both a player and manager.