Following the death of former Super Falcons coach, Ismaila Mabo, the Nigeria Football Federation has sent condolences to the family and loved ones of the former Nigerian international.

Mabo died on Monday after reportedly battling with a protracted illness.

The gaffer, who died at 79, helped the Super Falcons reach the quarterfinals of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup and gave Nigeria their best-ever performance at the Women’s World Cup. In 2000 and 2004, He also led the team to the Summer Olympics and their first-ever African Women’s Cup of Nations triumph in impressive fashion.

NFF described the former Nigeria defender as a role model for other coaches in the country.

According to NFF, “The death of Pa Ismaila Mabo came to me as a huge shock. Again, we have lost a great man and an accomplished trainer-of-trainers in the Nigeria Football fraternity, and my heart goes out to his immediate family and the other loved ones he has left behind.

“Mabo laid down a big marker for other coaches when he steered the Super Falcons to the quarter-finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the USA in 1999. Yet, he was simple, humble and humane. We will miss him, but we are consoled that he left giant footprints in the sands of time and pray that God will grant him eternal rest,” President of NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Gusau said on Monday.

He will be buried according to Islamic rites in Jos, Plateau State.