After over two months of searching for a new head coach for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has finally appointed Bruno Labbadia for the job.
Naturenex reported earlier today that the NFF confirmed Bruno Labbadia’s appointment via a post on the federation’s official X page on Tuesday, August 27.
At the time of writing, there was no information about the length of Labbadia’s contract, salary and other details of his ties with the NFF. But his primary assignment would be to qualify the Super Eagles for the 2025 AFCON and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Note that the Super Eagles will commence their quest to qualify for the 2025 AFCON on September 7 against the Benin Republic and then take on Rwanda three days later.
Below are the top 10 things you need to know about Bruno Labbadia:
1. Bruno Labbadia is currently 58 years old as he was born on February 8, 1966, in Darmstadt, West Germany.
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.
6. Labbadia last managed VfB Stuttgart in the 2022-2023 season.
7. He is only 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 the 37th head coach in the history of the Nigerian national team.
