47-year-old former Super Eagles player dies

Emmanuel Ebiede, a former Super Eagles midfielder, passed away on Friday in Port Harcourt, the state capital of Rivers, from hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver).

Ebiede, 47, passed away at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital at 4 o’clock.

His wife and three children—two of whom are in Nigeria and one of whom is in Holland—survived him.

The midfielder competed for the Flying Eagles at the 1995 African Youth Championship at home.

The UK-based company David Doherty, a candidate for the Nigerian Football Association’s leadership position in the previous year’s election, confirmed the death of the former SC Heerenveen player.

Doherty had set up a donation account so that people might help the dying Ebiede before his passing.

Doherty stated, “I just called with the daughter, who verified to me that Emmanuel is deceased.

“When we speak, I’m really depressed.” I spoke with this person two days ago to see how he was doing.

Ebiede played in two pre-World Cup friendly matches for the Super Eagles, earning his first on January 28, 1998, in a 1-0 victory against Iran under Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic.

Ebiede left his hometown team, the Sharks of Port Harcourt, in 1995 to join SC Eendracht Aalst in the Belgian First Division.

After spending time in the United Arab Emirates (1999–2004) and Israel, he relocated to SC Heerenveen in the Dutch Eredivisie in 1997. (2006-2008). He subsequently went back home to play for the Sharks and Bayelsa United. In 2011, he called it a day.

(PUNCH)