Labbadia when officially unveiled by NFF, will become the sixth German to take charge of the Super Eagles
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed German tactician, Bruno Labbadia as the new Super Eagles’ head coach.
This was disclosed on Tuesday morning by the Secretary General of the football body, Mohammed Sanusi.
He said, “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect.”
He will replace ex-Nigerian international, Finidi George, who recently resigned from the position after just few weeks in charge.
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Labbadia’s immediate challenge will be to take charge of the three-time African champions in the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Benin Republic on Sunday, September 7 in Uyo.
He will then travel with the team to Kigali in Rwanda on Tuesday, September 10, before overseeing four other encounters to conclude the qualifying race in the months of October and November.
Born in Darmstadt, Germany on 8th February 1966, Labbadia, won two caps for Die Mannschaft.
The tactician coached famous clubs such as Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart this decade, and previously took charge of VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, among others.
Labbadia, who holds a UEFA Pro License, is the sixth German after Karl-Heinz Marotzke (who had two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008) and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021) to lead the Super Eagles.
