The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Sunday celebrated two Africa’s legends for their impact in the round leather game.
Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi and Egypt’s Mahmoud El Gohary, were the only two men who won the Africa Cup of Nations title as player and coach. Incidentally, both are now deceased.
Stephen Keshi. Photo credit: Nigeria News
In a statement on on its website, CAF online, the continental body hailed both men for their contributions to football development in Africa.
EgyptianEl Gohary won the second edition of AFCON in 1959 as a player, before guiding the Pharaohs to their fourth title in 1998 as a coach.
“El Gohary had a brilliant coaching career that saw him winning CAF Champions League titles with Cairo rivals, Al Ahly (1982) and Zamalek (1993).
Mahmoud El Gohary. Photo credit: Modern Ghana
He led Egypt to their second FIFA World Cup appearance in Italy 1990, and had spells with Oman and Jordan national teams, besides clubs in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE. The iconic figure passed away in August 2012, aged 74,” CAF stated.
Keshi was the Super Eagles captain when they won their second title in 1994 in Tunisia, then steered them to their third triumph as coach in 2013 in South Africa.
On Keshi’s feat, CAF wrote, “Another highlight of Keshi’s coaching career was guiding Togo successfully in the qualifiers of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but missed out on the final tournament in Germany after being replaced by German Otto Pfister.
“He also guided the Super Eagles to the second round in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He also had a short spell with Mali. Keshi died in June 2016, aged 54.”
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