As some diehard supporters of Nigerian football heave a sigh of relief, Soccer buffs and other enthusiasts of Super Eagles question the strategic benefit of appointing German tactician Bruno Lababadia as the Chief Coach of the Nigerian national team.
International Nigerian sports journalist, Oma Akatugba, while speaking to Arise Tv on the subject yesterday, doubted the propriety of hiring the German whom he said, knew almost nothing about the Super Eagles and the larger Nigerian football tradition.
Akatugba argued further that Bruno Labbadia has no national team experience and therefore, joining the team at a time the Super Eagles team structure is in disarray may not yield the desired result.
A coach, it is argued, is as good as his last match. Bruno Labbadia almost took Stuttgart FC into relegation before he was booted out.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced yesterday, that it had reached an agreement with German tactician, Bruno Labbadia to take charge of the Super Eagles.
Secretary General of the NFF, Mohammed Sanusi made the announcement on Tuesday morning.
“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,” Sanusi said.
Born in Darmstadt, Germany on 8th February 1966, Labbadia, won two caps for Die Mannschaft.
The tactician coached famous names, Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart this decade, and previously, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, among others, and holds a UEFA Pro License.
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.
Labbadi’s immediate challenge is to take charge of the three-time African champions for two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Saturday 7th September in Uyo) and Rwanda (Tuesday, 10th September in Kigali), with four other matches to conclude the qualifying race following in the months of October and November
