The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced that it has reached an agreement with German tactician, Bruno Labbadia, to become the Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles.
NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi disclosed that 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, and the appointment is with immediate effect.
Labbadia is a German football manager and former player who played as a striker. He won the DFB-Pokal in 1989/90 season with FC Kaiserslautern, and the German Bundesliga in 1993/94 season with FC Bayern Munich. He was also capped twice for the German national team.
The 58-year-old holds a UEFA Pro License, and has managed clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, and Hertha BSC.
He is only 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.
Höner led the Eagles to runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr qualified and led Nigeria to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.
Labbadi’s immediate challenge is to take charge of the Super Ealges for two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic on Saturday 7th September in Uyo, and Rwanda on Tuesday, 10th September in Kigali.
