Sebastine Brodericks-Imasuen, who led the Golden Eaglets to the first U-17 World Cup victory in 1985, has died.
According to reports, the late Nigerian coach had been on life support at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital for more than a year.
Brodericks-Imasuen, 85, was diagnosed with Ischemic stroke in December 2022 and was having treatment when he died, according to reports.
Ischemic stroke develops when a blood clot stops or narrows a cerebral artery.
The blood clot often forms in arteries damaged by the buildup of plaques (atherosclerosis).
Bamidele Oguntuashe, one of the players Brodericks-Imasuen trained with at the 1989 U17 World Cup in Scotland, broke the news first, followed by additional confirmation via WhatsApp from Harrison Jalla, the Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force.
Jalla cited family members as the cause of death for the legendary coach, who had been bedridden for several months.
He was said to have had a stroke and diabetes.
The late coach was one of the football players who represented Nigeria at the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968 and famously scored from a free kick to win the then Challenge Cup for Bendel Insurance in 1972.
He led the team again in 1987 to Canada and got to the final before losing through a penalty shoot-out to the then-Soviet Union.
Imasuen began his football career in 1956 when as a student, he featured for the Onitsha team in the Challenge Cup.
In 1962, he joined the then ECN and was part of the Challenge Cup winning side of 1965.
He was invited to the national team in 1962 but only became a regular in the build-up to the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.
He was noted for his curving shots, especially from free-kick situations.
His most memorable moment as a club player was scoring the winning goal in the 3-2 triumph for Bendel Insurance over Mighty Jets of Jos in the 1972 Challenge Cup replay at the Liberty Stadium – the first time the national cup final was staged outside Lagos.
Later, he became a coach and guided the Midwest junior team to a gold medal at the first National Sports Festival in 1973.
