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It wasn't until he was playing for the Nigerian junior teams and on TV that Stephen Keshi was able to tell his parents that he was playing football. As they were growing up, Stephen and his four br...others were banned from playing the game, and had to do so in secret. Stephen even admits having to take money from his mother's purse to buy the falele, a small rubber ball that they used to kick around.It took a trip to the doctor for his father and him being able to skip the waiting list because of Stephen's growing notoriety, that they began to accept that their son had not been paying as much attention to his school work as they had wanted and that he was going to be a footballer.Keshi went on to become a Nigerian football great and is one of only two people to have won the African Cup of Nations as a player, in 1994 and as a manager when the Super Eagles won in 2013.In the last of The Managers, Keshi tells Jane Garvey about his journey from playing in secret in Nigeria to becoming 'The Big Boss' and leading his country in the World Cup finals in Brazil this summer. He tells Jane about how, after a spell in the Ivory Coast, he was one of the first African players to play in Europe, playing in France and Belgium, and how while he was playing and living in Europe he suffered horrendous racist abuse, which was endemic in the game in the 1980's and 90's, and if it was not for his wife he would have returned to Nigeria.Those events and his playing career as a tough centre half, he says, shaped him as a player, as a person and ultimately as a coach, and he and Jane talk about his coaching philosophy, whether he lives up to the nickname of 'The Big Boss', how he brings such a disparate group of players from all over the world into a squad which he hopes will surprise the football world in Brazil. He also tells Jane how his players know who is in charge of the Nigerian team, even though he is the type of manager who welcomes input from his playersJane also asks Keshi about his controversial side, his views on European coaches being employed by African football nations and his policy in the past of only picking Nigerian based players in his squad.
It wasn't until he was playing for the Nigerian junior teams and on TV that Stephen Keshi was able to tell his parents that he was playing football. As they were growing up, Stephen and his four br...others were banned from playing the game, and had to do so in secret. Stephen even admits having to take money from his mother's purse to buy the falele, a small rubber ball that they used to kick around.It took a trip to the doctor for his father and him being able to skip the waiting list because of Stephen's growing notoriety, that they began to accept that their son had not been paying as much attention to his school work as they had wanted and that he was going to be a footballer.Keshi went on to become a Nigerian football great and is one of only two people to have won the African Cup of Nations as a player, in 1994 and as a manager when the Super Eagles won in 2013.In the last of The Managers, Keshi tells Jane Garvey about his journey from playing in secret in Nigeria to becoming 'The Big Boss' and leading his country in the World Cup finals in Brazil this summer. He tells Jane about how, after a spell in the Ivory Coast, he was one of the first African players to play in Europe, playing in France and Belgium, and how while he was playing and living in Europe he suffered horrendous racist abuse, which was endemic in the game in the 1980's and 90's, and if it was not for his wife he would have returned to Nigeria.Those events and his playing career as a tough centre half, he says, shaped him as a player, as a person and ultimately as a coach, and he and Jane talk about his coaching philosophy, whether he lives up to the nickname of 'The Big Boss', how he brings such a disparate group of players from all over the world into a squad which he hopes will surprise the football world in Brazil. He also tells Jane how his players know who is in charge of the Nigerian team, even though he is the type of manager who welcomes input from his playersJane also asks Keshi about his controversial side, his views on European coaches being employed by African football nations and his policy in the past of only picking Nigerian based players in his squad.
| Series: | The managers |
|---|---|
| Episode | 6 |
| First transmission date: | 2014-06-14 |
| Original broadcast channel: | BBC World Service |
| Published: | 2014 |
| Rights Statement: | Rights owned or controlled by The Open University |
| Restrictions on use: | This material can be used in accordance with The Open University conditions of use. A link to the conditions can be found at the bottom of all OU Digital Archive web pages. |
| Duration: | 00:55:00 |
| Note: | BBC World Service version |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Richard McIlroy |
| Presenter: | Jane Garvey |
| Contributors: | Jane Garvey; Stephen Keshi; Efe Ambrose |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Production number: | AUDA964B |
| Available to public: | no |
