Coach Sebastian Broderick-Imasuen, the football manager and tactician who led the Golden Eaglets to their historic victory at the 1985 U-16 World Cup in China, is dead. He was aged 85.
For more than a year, the late Nigerian coach was hospitalised at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.
Before passing away, Sebastian Broderick-Imasuen, 85, was being treated for an ischemic stroke that he was diagnosed with in December 2022.
An ischemic stroke happens when a blood clot obstructs or narrows a blood vessel that supplies the brain.
Blood clots frequently occur in arteries that have been weakened by plaque accumulation.
The story was first confirmed 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 the development.
The departed coach, once a standout footballer representing Nigeria at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, gained fame by securing victory with a free kick for Bendel Insurance in the 1972 Challenge Cup.
Transitioning to coaching, he led a trio, featuring Bala Shamaki and Christian Chukwu, guiding the Nigerian team to an astonishing triumph in China in 1985.
Despite reaching the 1987 Canada final, a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out loss to the then-Soviet Union occurred. Subsequent attempts faced setbacks, with a quarter-final loss to Saudi Arabia through a penalty kick. He also served as Clemens Westerhof's assistant in the Super Eagles.
