Julius OkorieGerman Coach, Bruno Labbadia, was announced as the 37th Coach of the Super Eagles Tuesday, just few days to the next round of qualifiers against Republic of Benin and Rwanda respectively.
Recall that the NFF had vowed to appoint another foreign coach following the resignation of Finidi George and the exit of Portuguese coach, Jose Pesseiro.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe new Super Eagles Coach has been a club coach through and through, but here are facts about the new coach at a glance.
1. Bruno Labbadia is the 37th head coach in the history of the Nigerian national team
2. Labbadia played as a striker for 8 different clubs in his football career, including Bayern Munich, Werder Bremen, and 1. FC Köln. He made only two appearances for the German national team.
3. As a player, Labbadia recorded 103 goals in 328 Bundesliga games across his career, including 50 goals for Arminia Bielefeld and 44 goals for his hometown club, Darmstadt 98. His most successful season as a player was 1998-1999, where he scored 29 goals for Arminia Bielefeld.
4. Bruno Labbadia began his managerial career with Darmstadt 98 from 2003 to 2006.
5. Labbadia has managed several German clubs including Greuther Furth, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, and Hertha BSC.
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6. Labbadia last managed VfB Stuttgart in the 2022-2023 season.
7. He is the sixth German to manage the Super Eagles of Nigeria, after Karl-Heinz Marotzke, Gottlieb Göller, Manfred Höner, Berti Vogts and Gernot Rohr.
8. Labbadia has a UEFA Pro License coaching qualification.
9. His parents are Italian, but he decided to switch his allegiance to Germany, his country of birth, at the age of 18 due to his desire to play for the German Machine.
10. Bruno Labbadia is currently 58 years old as he was born on February 8, 1966, in Darmstadt, West Germany.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
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