Victorious 1985 U17 Coach, Brodericks-Imasuen, Dies At 85

The Nigeria football family has been thrown into mourning following the death of an ex-international and Coach, Sebastian Brodericks-Imasuen.

The soccer tactician, according to a family source who preferred anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press on the development, died in the early hours of Wednesday in Benin City, Edo State, after protracted illness at the age of 85.

Recall that the veteran Coach Brodericks-Imaseun, who won Nigeria’s first Under-17 World Cup in China in 1985, had been bedridden for ailments suspected to be stroke and diabetes.

The late Edo-born coach was one of the players that represented Nigeria Football Team at the Mexico 1968 Olympic Games.

Coach Brodericks-Imasuen, popularly known as ‘Sabara’ in his active days, would be remembered, amongst others, for his famous free-kick goal that won Bendel Insurance Football Club of Benin City the then Challenge Cup in 1972.

That goal was his biggest moment as a club player as he scored the winning goal in the 3-2 victory for Bendel Insurance in the replay of the 1972 Challenge Cup against Mighty Jets Football Club of Jos, Plateau State, at the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Oyo State.

He was known for his curving shots, especially from free kick/dead ball situations.

As a coach, he was the head of a three-man crew that included Bala Shamaki and Christian Chukwu when the Nigerian team shocked the world in China in 1985.

He led the team again in 1987 to Canada and got to the finals before his team narrowly lost through penalty shootout to the then Soviet Union.

At the third attempt in the competition, his team also lost to Saudi Arabia by penalty shootout in the quarter finals.

He 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 feature in the build-up to the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.

He later became a coach and handled the Midwest junior side to win the gold medal at the inaugural National Sports Festival in 1973.

At another time, he was the assistant coach to Clemens Westerhof in the Super Eagles.