The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has announced German tactician Bruno Labbadia as the new head coach of the Super Eagles.
The announcement was made in the early hours of Tuesday, August 27, by the NFF.
The Federation stated that they have reached an agreement with the German tactician to become the 37th head coach of the senior men’s national team.
“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,” the NFF stated.
NFF on Bruno Labbadia’s duty
According to the NFF, Labbadia’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 and Rwanda, with four other matches to conclude the qualifying race in the months of October and November.
Bruno Labbadia’s appointment comes after the country struggled to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup under coach Finidi George, who later resigned because the NFF had stated that they would hire a foreign technical director for the Super Eagles to support him.
The NFF’s decision to hire a foreign technical director for the Super Eagles during Finidi George’s tenure as head coach was due to the Super Eagles’ poor performance in the World Cup qualifiers.
Finidi George confirmed his resignation from his position as Super Eagles Head Coach on June 15.
Who is Bruno Labbadia?
Bruno Labbadia was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on February 8, 1966.
He earned two caps for the German national team during his playing career, which saw him play for clubs such as his hometown team Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Arminia Bielefeld, and Karlsruher SC.
Bruno Labbadia had a successful stint in the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich as a player in 1994.
He has coached famous clubs like Hertha Berlin, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, among others.
Bruno Labbadia holds a UEFA Pro License.
The new Super Eagles coach is the sixth German to lead the Super Eagles.
Other German coaches who have led the Super Eagles include: 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).
Höner led the Super Eagles to a 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.
List of coaches who have led the Super Eagles:
– John Finch (England) – 1949
– Daniel Anyiam (Nigeria) – 1954-1956; 1964-1965
– Les Courtier (England) – 1956-1960
– Moshe Beit Halevi (Israel) – 1960-1961
– George Vardar (Hungary) – 1961-1963
– Joey Blackwell (England) – 1963-1964
– József Ember (Hungary) – 1965-1968
– Sabino Barinaga (Spain) – 1968-1969
– Peter ‘Eto’ Amaechina (Nigeria) – 1969-1970
– Karl-Heinz Marotzke (Germany) – 1970-1971; 1974
– Jorge Penna (Brazil) – 1972-1973
– Jelisavčić ‘Father Tiko’ Tihomir (Yugoslavia) – 1974-1978
– Otto Glória (Brazil) – 1979-1982
– Gottlieb Göller (Germany) – 1981
– Adegboye Onigbinde (Nigeria) – 1983-1984; 2002
– Chris Udemezue (Nigeria) – 1984-1986
– Patrick Ekeji (Nigeria) – 1985
– Paul Hamilton (Nigeria) – 1987; 1989
– Manfred Höner (Germany) – 1988-1989
– Clemens Westerhof (Netherlands) – 1989-1994
– Amodu Shaibu (Nigeria) – 1994-1995; 1996-1997; 2001-2002; 2008-2010
– Johannes Bonfrere (Netherlands) – 1995-1996; 1999-2001
– Philippe Troussier (France) – 1997
– Monday Sinclair (Nigeria) – 1997-1998
– Bora Milutinović (Yugoslavia) – 1998
– Thijs Libregts (Netherlands) – 1999
– Christian Chukwu (Nigeria) – 2002-2005
– Augustine Eguavoen (Nigeria) – 2005-2007; 2010; 2022
– Berti Vogts (Germany) – 2007-2008
– Lars Lagerbäck (Sweden) – 2010
– Samson Siasia (Nigeria) – 2010-2011; 2016
– Stephen Keshi (Nigeria) – 2011-2014; 2015
– Sunday Oliseh (Nigeria) – 2015-2016
– Gernot Rohr (Germany) – 2016-2021
– José Peseiro (Portugal) – 2022-2024
– Finidi George (Nigeria) – 2024
– Bruno Labbadia (Germany) – 2024-?
Click Banner To Get N100,000 Bonus Now!
When you register on 1xBet using this promo code asbnewsng, you can unlock a fantastic bonus offer of N100,000! Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity. Try it now!
Founder/editor-in-chief – ASB News. If you’d like to get in touch with me, feel free to follow any of my social links below.