After several months of dilly-dallying about the urgent task of appointing a head coach to lead the Nigeria senior men’s football team, the Super Eagles, those in charge of affairs have appointed former VfB Stuttgart of Germany manager Bruno Labbadia, 58, as the new person to come take over the reins. This is happening up to 11 days to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with Benin.

Since the former Super Eagles manager Finidi George resigned from his post in mid-June following a run of poor World Cup qualifying results against South Africa and also Benin Republic, there had been huge concern over the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) leaving the vacuum open for too long. Now, it has happened with Labbadia who before his appointment was sacked by his old German club.

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Other candidates that were in the running for the job but weren’t chosen are the Swede Janne Andersson, Frenchman Herve Renard as well as former Italian football national team captain Fabio Cannavaro.

The announcement that Bruno Labbadia was chosen came via X on Tuesday, 27 August, 2024. On the social media platform witnessed the NFF stating through General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi that the latest appointment was immediate.

According to the tweet quoting the general secretary, 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.

Hopefully, the newly-appointed manager will be able to right the wrongs of the past. His most immediate task is waiting in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital in just 11 days. There, he and a talented Super Eagles squad must face Benin victoriously or else fans will be disappointed.

As soon as this fixture is done, next for the players will be to head down to Rwanda on 10 September and come out with something Nigerians can celebrate.

Even though the Super Eagles weren’t able to defeat 2023 African Cup of Nations host Cote d’Ivoire when both sides met in February final, there is a consensus agreeing on the sight of a truly remarkable team with star players dotting the face of Europe.

When head coach Bruno Labbadia gets to his Eagles desk, he would have players building huge momentum to select from. Particularly Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman who scored a hat trick at the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League final when his Italian club played against current Bundesliga champions, Bayern Leverkusen which has Super Eagles team mate Victor Boniface in their ranks.

Optimism is good for Mr Labbadia’s successful reign but most fans reacting to his appointment do not share it. What they want hasn’t been met by the Nigeria Football Federation. One profile responding to this also via X is Gomis4×4 who said NFF is the problem with the country’s football with the way they are always hiring coaches that will ride on the wings of Super Eagles to prominence yet they do not deliver.

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Can Labbadia, who holds a UEFA Pro License and previously managed Hertha Berlin, Wolfsburg, Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen before he was sacked by VfB Stuttgart in April 2023 be the key to the Super Eagles winning problems? Fans are in doubt at this moment but in their hearts they wish their new coach will be the real deal.

Already they have seen five German managers Karl-Heinz Marotzke (1970 & 1974), Gottlieb Goller (1981), Manfred Honer (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008) and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021) lead their team. Bruno Labbadia to them must be an ingredient that works.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.