Keshi Gets Google Doodle Honour on His 56th Posthumous Birthday

Tech giant Google today celebrated former Nigerian Super Eagles defender, Captain and Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi (nicknamed the Big boss),  with a Doodle to commemorate his 56th posthumous birthday.

Today we celebrate the life of Nigerian football icon Stephen Keshi. The beautiful game took Keshi all over the world, as a player and coach. Happy Birthday Big Boss. #StephenKeshi #GoogleDoodle pic.twitter.com/KIwPtDopCi

— Google in Africa (@googleafrica) January 23, 2018

Google Doodle is a special temporary change made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, events, anniversaries and the lives of famous artists, scientists and pioneers. Google has celebrated prominent Nigerians like the literary icon Chinua Achebe on his 87th posthumous birthday and novelist Flora Nwapa on her 86th posthumous birthday.

Stephen Keshi was born January 23, 1962 in Bauchi state, Nigeria. He died on June 7, 2016 following complications after a heart attack. He made his international debut in the friendly match against Upper Volta now Burkina Faso on July 18, 1981. Keshi’s career spanned 14 years, during which he earned 60 caps for the Nigerian national football team which made him the second most capped player at the time of his retirement in 1995. His last international game as a player was a 2 – 0 defeat against Greece in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

After a successful career as a player, Stephen Keshi began his coaching career in Togo where he qualified Togo for its first and only FIFA World Cup appearance in Germany 2006. He later moved on to become Nigeria’s coach in 2011 and led the national team to victory in the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

Google celebrates Legendary Nigerian Football player, Skipper & coach, #StephenKeshi on his posthumous 56th birthday using #GoogleDoodle
4 is his number
94 was his 1st World-cup
13 was when he led the Super Eagles to win the AFCON.
..
Sad, we wait for Google to remember our hero! pic.twitter.com/XNyApL9Iol

— David Afolayan (@aforisms_) January 23, 2018

Stephen Okechukwu Keshi set a world record in African football by being the first African coach to successfully qualify two African nations (Nigeria and Togo) for the World Cup finals. He also won the Africa cup of Nations twice; first as a player and then as a coach. He was well loved and is remembered for his selfless decades of service to the Nigerian national team. Today we join the world to celebrate an icon.