BREAKING: Nigerian U-17 World Cup Winning Coach Dies
The former coach of the Golden Eaglets, Sebastine Brodericks-Imasuen, who led the team to victory in the inaugural U-17 World Cup in 1985, has reportedly passed away.
The late Nigerian coach had been on life support for over a year at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, receiving treatment for an ischemic stroke diagnosed in December 2022.
Ischemic stroke is characterized by a blood clot blocking or narrowing an artery leading to the brain.
The news of Brodericks-Imasuen’s demise was initially disclosed by Bamidele Oguntuashe, a player coached by him for the 1989 U17 World Cup in Scotland. Harrison Jalla, the Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force, later confirmed the news via a WhatsApp message, citing family sources for the information. The iconic coach had been bed-ridden for several months and reportedly battled with both stroke and diabetes.
Sebastine Brodericks-Imasuen, aged 85, had a storied history in Nigerian football. He represented Nigeria as a football player at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968 and gained fame by scoring from a free kick to secure the Challenge Cup for Bendel Insurance in 1972.
In his coaching role, he led a three-person squad, including Christian Chukwu and Bala Shamaki, when the Nigerian team achieved a historic victory in China in 1985.
