1985 U-17 World Cup Winning Coach, Dies At 85

Former Golden Eaglets coach, Sebastine Brodericks-Imasuen, who led the Eaglets to win the inaugural U-17 World Cup in 1985 is reportedly dead.
The late Nigerian coach was reportedly on life support for more than a year at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

According to reports, Brodericks-Imasuen, 85, was having treatment for an ischemic stroke that he was diagnosed with in December 2022.

Ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks or narrows an artery leading to the brain.

The story was originally leaked by Bamidele Oguntuashe, a player that Brodericks-Imasuen trained for the 1989 U17 World Cup in Scotland. Harrison Jalla, the Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force, then confirmed it via a WhatsApp message.

Harrison Jalla, the Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association of Nigeria Task Force, then confirmed it via a WhatsApp message.

Jalla cited family sources for the death of the iconic coach who had been bed-ridden for a few months now.

He reportedly also suffered from 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.

In his role as coach, he oversaw a three-person squad that also comprised Christian Chukwu and Bala Shamaki when the Nigerian team stunned the world in China in 1985.