Christian Chukwu, a former captain and head coach of the Super Eagles, Christian Chukwu has passed on.
Reports gathered that the former Enugu Rangers coach died in the early hours of Saturday at the Niger Foundation Hospital in Enugu State.
The cause of his death is however still unknown as of the time of filing this report.
His longtime teammate and friend, Dr. Olusegun Odegbami, confirmed the sad news in a post via his official X handle on Saturday.
According to Segun Odegbami, “My Chairman has passed on this morning. ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu, MFR, my bosom friend and teammate, one of the greatest football players in Nigeria’s football history, former captain and coach of Nigeria’s national football team, has passed on.”
Christian Chukwu, captained the Nigerian national team, then known as the Green Eagles, between 1974 and 1980. He also captained the national team to its first-ever Africa Cup of Nations title in 1980 and finished as a runner-up in 1976 and 1978.
Chukwu also served as an assistant coach of the first team to win a FIFA World Cup trophy for Nigeria – the Golden Eaglets that won gold at the FIFA U16 World Cup in China in 1985.
He was also the assistant coach of the team tagged the Golden Generation, the 1994 class of Super Eagles that qualified Nigeria for its first FIFA World Cup finals.