National Teams
New Super Eagles coach Bruno Labbadia set to name foreign assistants
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
The newly appointed coach of Nigeria’s senior men’s national team, Bruno Labbadia is expected to announce his foreign assistants in coming days.
On Tuesday, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced that it has reached an agreement with German tactician, Labbadia, to become the Head Coach of Super Eagles.
According to reports, Labbadia is expected to select his foreign assistants from the following candidates: Erdinç Sözer, Olaf Janßen and Bernhard Trares.
Labbadia 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.
The German first assignment is against Benin Republic at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers on Saturday 7th September in Uyo.
Three days later, the three time African champions will face Rwanda on Tuesday, 10th September in Kigali, with four other matches to conclude the qualifying race following in the months of October and November.
The coach became 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.
