Stephen Keshi

Stephen Keshi

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Okechukwu Keshi
Date of birth	31 January 1962 (1962-01-31)
Place of birth	Lagos, Nigeria
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Nigeria
Number	Manager
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1979	ACB Lagos
1980–1984	New Nigeria Bank
1985	Stade d'Abidjan
1986	Africa Sports
1986–1987	Lokeren	28	(6)
1987–1991	Anderlecht	99	(18)
1991–1993	RC Strasbourg	62	(9)
1993–1994	Molenbeek	4	(0)
1995	CCV Hydra
1996	Sacramento Scorpions
1997	Perlis FA
National team
1983–1995	Nigeria
Teams managed
2004–2006	Togo
2007	Togo
2008–2010	Mali
2011	Togo
2011–	Nigeria
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (born January 31, 1962 in Lagos) is a former football defender from Nigeria.

Playing career

An important player for Nigeria, Keshi was captain of the squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup and played in five different African Nations Cup tournaments, helping to win the 1994 African Nations Cup.

His last club was Perlis FA in Malaysia. In 2000, a testimonial match was arranged for him in Lagos, Nigeria.

Coaching career

After a playing career mostly with Belgian clubs, Keshi went to the United States to be educated in coaching.

In 1996 he was joined by Augustine Eguavoen, who once coached the Nigerian national team. They played together in California as the backbone of the defense for the short-lived Sacramento Scorpions. Keshi has been a part of the coaching staff for the Nigerian national team, most notably as head coach for the Junior Eagles at the 2004 Olympic soccer tournament.

Between 2004 and 2006 Keshi coached the Togo national football team, unexpectedly bringing them to their first World Cup tournament, Germany 2006. Having secured Togo's unlikely qualification, he was promptly replaced by German coach Otto Pfister prior to the World Cup finals, after Togo showed a dismal performance and failed to advance to the tournament stage in 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.

However, Pfister did not last beyond a controversial World Cup campaign that nearly resulted in a player's strike over pay and Togo remained without a manager until February 2007 when they re-engaged Keshi in time for a friendly against Cameroon.

He worked as manager of the Mali national football team, after being appointed in April 2008 on a two-year deal.

Keshi was sacked in January 2010, after Mali's early exit in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations. On 2 November 2011 he was named the new coach of the Nigerian National Team.

Honours

African Nations Cup: 1994 (with Nigeria)

West African Club Championship: 1983, 1984 (with New Nigeria Bank FC)

Coupe Houphoet Boigny: 1985, 1986 (with Stade d'Abidjan)

Côte d'Ivoire Premier Division: 1986 (with Africa Sports)

Côte d'Ivoire Coupe: 1986 (with Africa Sports)

Jupiler League: 1991 (with Anderlecht)

Belgian Cup: 1988, 1989 (with Anderlecht)

External links

• Stephen Keshi at National-Football-Teams.com