The Nigeria Football Federation announced today that Bruno Labbadia, a German tactician, has been appointed as the Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles. The appointment comes after the NFF Executive Committee approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee. Labbadia’s appointment is effective immediately.
Born in Darmstadt, Germany on February 8th, 1966, Labbadia had an impressive playing career, representing clubs such as Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld, and Karlsruher SC. As a player, he triumphed in the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich in 1994. Labbadia holds a UEFA Pro License and has coached renowned teams like Hertha Berlin, VfB Stuttgart, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, and Bayer Leverkusen.
Labbadia is the sixth German to lead the Super Eagles, following Karl-Heinz Marotzke, Gottlieb Gller, Manfred Hner, Berti Vogts, and Gernot Rohr. Hner guided the Eagles to the runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr successfully qualified and led Nigeria to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.
Labbadia’s immediate challenge will be to take charge of the Super Eagles in two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic and Rwanda. Following these matches, there will be four more qualifiers in the months of October and November.
LIST OF SUPER EAGLES COACHES IN HISTORY
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
Jzsef 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
Jelisavi Father Tiko Tihomir (Yugoslavia) – 1974-1978
Otto Glria (Brazil) – 1979-1982
Gottlieb Gller (Germany) – 1981
Adegboye Onigbinde (Nigeria) – 1983-1984; 2002
Chris Udemezue (Nigeria) – 1984-1986
Patrick Ekeji (Nigeria) – 1985
Paul Hamilton (Nigeria) – 1987; 1989
Manfred Hner (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 Milutinovi (Yugoslavia) – 1998
Thijs Libregts (Netherlands) – 1999
Christian Chukwu (Nigeria) – 2002-2005
Augustine Eguavoen (Nigeria) – 2005-2007; 2010; 2022
Berti Vogts (Germany) – 2007-2008
Lars Lagerbck (Sweden) – 2010
Samson Siasia (Nigeria) – 2010-2011; 2016
Stephen Keshi (Nigeria) – 2011-2014; 2015
Sunday Oliseh (Nigeria) – 2015-2016
Gernot Rohr (Germany) – 2016-2021
Jos Peseiro (Portugal) – 2022-2024
Finidi George (Nigeria) – 2024
Bruno Labbadia (Germany) – 2024-?