Sabara Is Dead: First U17 World Cup Winning Coach Sebastine Brodericks Passed On This Morning

 

Sebastine Brodericks- Imasuen, who led the Golden Eaglets to win the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Cup in China is dead.

Brodericks, according to our correspondence, learnt from a reliable source, died on Wednesday morning.

The late coach had been bed-ridden for months now. He reportedly suffered from stroke and diabetes.

The former footballer also led the Golden Eaglets to the second edition of the cadet World Cup in Canada in 1987 where they finished in second position after losing to the defunct Soviet Union in the final.

He was also in charge when the Golden Eaglets were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Saudi Arabia two years later in Scotland.

Nicknamed Sabara, the popular gaffer was also once an assistant to former Super Eagles technical adviser Clemens Westerhof.

Brodericks was one of the players that represented Nigerian football team 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 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.

His biggest moment as a club player was when he scored the winning goal in the 3-2 victory for Bendel Insurance in the replay of the 1972 Challenge Cup with Mighty Jets of Jos at the Liberty Stadium – the first time the national cup final was held outside Lagos.

Brodericks handled the Midwest junior side to win gold medal at the inaugural National Sports Festival in 1973.