Heartland FC has announced the unfortunate passing of their former player and immediate past head coach, Christian Obi. The former Super Eagles goalie was in the front seat (passenger side) of the team’s vehicle that was involved in an accident on their way to Abakaliki for a pre season tournament, (Ifeanyi Ekwueme TICO/SELECT).
As reported by the club, the accident happened at Umuna, Okigwe road, Imo State when the team’s vehicle in an attempt to dodge from colliding with an uncoming vehicle, ram into another carelessly stationed truck from another accident. Injured players and officials including Coach Obi were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital at Okwelle, where he later gave up as a result of shock, despite all efforts by the medical staff to save him.
Coach Christian Obi, born on January 2, 1967 (57), is a former goalkeeper that made some illustrious achievements in his footballing career, including featuring in the 1988 pre-Olympic Games Soccer in Seoul, South Korea, where the then Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC of Owerri represented Nigeria.
Obi’s football career started when he was a student of Nsukka High School between 1975 to 1980. After his secondary school education, he represented the Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria (YSFON) in a youth tournament in Cardiff in 1981 where he played for Enugu Black Rocks FC and won gold medal in the tournament.
After the Cardiff tournament, he was drafted into the defunct Vasco Da Gama FC, Enugu and from there to Julius Berger FC, Lagos. In 1987, he joined Iwuanyanwu Nationale FC of Owerri (Heartland FC) but returned to Julius Berger FC the following year where he remained till 1996.
At international stage, Obi played for the Flying Eagles at the 1985 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Moscow, Russia, where he exceptionally saved three penalty kicks, defeating the host nation in a penalty shootout in the third-place match after a scoreless regulation and extra time to help Nigeria win bronze medal at the junior World Cup. He was later promoted to the national team to play for the Super Eagles.
During the 1989 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Cameroon at the Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan. Obi was sure favourite to be in goal for Nigeria, but a couple of days before the match, he suffered a severe ankle injury which knocked him out of the match and Peter Rufai had to be called up to man the goal in his absent, an incident that put paid to his exposure to the World as that was what that match stood for, for him.
Christian Obi would later become part of the Super Eagles squad handled by Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, which won silver medal at the Algiers ’90 Africa Cup of Nations in Ageria, as well as a member of the Nigeria’s 5-A-Side squad to the 1992 Championship in Hong Kong.
He later took to coaching and was the immediate past Chief Coach of Heartland FC (former Iwuanyanwu Nationale), following the departure of Fidelis Ilechukwu to Plateau United. Christian Obi guided Heartland FC to promotion from the NNL back to the NPFL in the 2022/2023 season while going the entire season unbeaten. A winless run Of nine matches back in the top flight the next season resulted to his initially sacked by the club and replaced by Kennedy Boboye, who himself was later controversially removed to reinstate Obi as the head coach.
Following the team’s relegation back to the NNL, the Imo State government announced experienced Emmanuel Amuneke as the new head coach of Heartland FC, but Obi was retained as part of the coaching staff, a position he held until his demise.
Our thoughts are with the entire Heartland FC family, his friends and his immediate family. Rest in perfect peace Coach Christian Obi.
[Kesta Sports]