Ugbade, Adepoju react to Osondu’s death

Golden Eaglets assistant coach, Nduka Ugbade has described the death of his national teammate, Phillip Osondu as painful.

Osondu died in Belgium on Thursday after taking himself to the hospital to be examined on Thursday,”This is bad news for me to hear. I saw him last many years ago in Belgium at the Airport and we spoke for about 20 minutes and he was so happy seeing me again after so many years,” Ugbade told Sportinglife.ng.
“He was doing pretty good. This is painful to hear and a great loss; his name is a household in Nigeria even among people who never saw him play.
“His death at this period is a bad one and we can only pray God to grant him eternal rest.”
Another teammate at Saudi Arabia, Mutiu ‘Headmaster’ Adepoju, also expressed his shock at Osondu’s demise
Adepoju tweeted: “Philip Osondu was my teammate at Saudi 89 FIFA U20 World Cup, where we helped Nigeria finish in the second position. So shattered about the news of his passing.
“Dear Lord, do grant him eternal rest and console his family “It was learned that Osondu went to the hospital after he felt unwell at work.
He participated in the 1987 World U-16 tournament in Canada where he reached the Golden Eaglets lost on penalties to the Soviet Union in the finals.
The Aba-born forward won the World Cup Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.
Osondu started his career in Nigeria for El Kanemi Warriors before joining Belgium side RSC Anderlecht in 1988.
He would later play for RWDM, La Louviere, Union Saint-Gilloise, Diegem Sport all in Belgium before retiring in 2004.