By John Adiasi
Sebastine Broderick-Imasuen: The Legendary Coach Who Led Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets to Victory is Late
Sebastine Broderick-Imasuen, the legendary coach who led the Golden Eaglets to victory in the inaugural U16 World Cup in China, has passed away this Wednesday morning.
The news was first broken by one of the players he coached at the 1989 U17 World Cup in Scotland, Bamidele Oguntuashe, and was later confirmed by Harrison Jalla, the Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria (PFAN) Task Force, through a WhatsApp post.
According to Jalla, family sources revealed that the iconic coach had been bed-ridden for several months and had been suffering from stroke and diabetes.
Sebastine Broderick-Imasuen had an illustrious career both as a player and a coach.
He represented the Nigerian football team at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968 and gained fame for scoring a winning free kick in the Challenge Cup for Bendel Insurance in 1972.As a coach, he led the Nigerian team to victory in China in 1985, shocking the world.
He also led the team to the final in Canada in 1987, narrowly losing through a penalty shoot-out to the then Soviet Union.
In another attempt in the competition, his team lost to Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals.Sebastine Broderick-Imasuen also served as an assistant to Clemens Westerhof in the Super Eagles.
His football career began in 1956 when he played for the Onitsha team in the Challenge Cup.
He joined the then ECN in 1962 and was part of the Challenge Cup winning side in 1965.
He was invited to the national team in 1962 but only became a regular player in the build-up to the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
