Connect with us

Sports

NFF appoints Bruno Labbadia as Super Eagles head coach

Published

on

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has appointed Bruno Labbadia as the head coach of the Super Eagles.

The NFF said in a statement on Tuesday morning that it has reached an agreement with the German tactician.

Mohammed Sanusi, NFF general secretary, said: “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. The appointment is with immediate effect.”

Labbadia succeeds Finidi George who stepped down from the role in June — a few days after the NFF announced a plan to appoint a foreign technical adviser for the Super Eagles.

The former Enyimba FC manager, who was appointed in April 2024, managed only two competitive games as the Eagles coach.

Like George, Labbadia is a former player-turned-coach.

In his playing days, he was on the roster of FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, Darmstadt, Hamburger, FC Köln, Werder Bremen, Arminia Bielefeld and Karlsruher SC.

See also  Bring home the trophy, get $250,000, Femi Otedola promises Super Eagles

Labbadia won the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich in 1994.

Upon retirement, he turned to coaching and would go on to manage Darmstadt, Greuther Fürth, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburger SV, Hertha BSC, and Wolfsburg.

His last coaching job was as manager of Stuttgart. He was sacked in April 2023 after the team dropped to the last spot on the Bundesliga table.

Labbadia is the sixth German to be appointed the head coach of the Super Eagles.

He follows in the footsteps of compatriots; Karl-Heinz Marotzke, Gottlieb Göller, Manfred Höner, Berti Vogts and Gernot Rohr.

LABBADIA FACES TOUGH TESTS

Labbadi’s immediate challenge is to take charge of the Eagles for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying matches. The qualifiers will kick off with a home game against Benin Republic on September 7 in Uyo before travelling to Rwanda three days later. Four other matches to conclude the qualifying race will be played in October and November.

See also  Ademola Lookman: From England youth team to Nigerian star

Benin Republic are managed by Gernot Rohr, a former Eagles manager. The team had defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the last round of the 2026 World Cup qualification.

The Eagles are in a tight spot to qualify for the next World Cup. They are currently fifth in Group C and winless in four games.

Labbadia will have to do a tough job righting the impending shipwreck and getting Nigeria to the group’s summit for automatic World Cup qualification.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

WrestleMania 42: Nigerian wrestler Oba Femi beats 10-time WWE Champion Brock Lesnar

Published

on

By

Nigerian professional wrestler, Isaac Odugbesan, popularly known as Oba Femi, defeated 10-time WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar, on his WrestleMania debut on Sunday.

The clash, one of the headline matches at WrestleMania 42, ended on a dramatic note as the 27-year-old Nigerian overpowered the veteran.

Lesnar left his wrestling gear in the ring after the match — a gesture widely regarded in professional wrestling as a sign of retirement.

Oba Femi, also known as “The Ruler,” is a former NXT champion and has spent just three months on WWE’s main roster.

The contest began with both wrestlers testing each other’s strength before Lesnar briefly seized control with a series of offensive moves.

However, Femi absorbed the pressure and responded with a dominant display, shifting momentum in his favour.

Lesnar delivered an F5, but Femi quickly recovered, hitting a chokeslam before finishing the contest with his “Fall From Grace” sit-out powerbomb for the pinfall victory.

See also  Mint has capacity to print new Naira notes - CBN

The bout quickly became a major talking point on social media, with fans reacting to the upset win.

Femi, a former shot put athlete, is a two-time NXT Champion and a one-time NXT North American Champion.

Born in Lagos, Odugbesan competed in track and field during his school years before signing with WWE in 2021 through its NIL programme.

He went on to win the 2023 NXT Men’s Breakout Tournament and the 2024 Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge.

During the WrestleMania Sunday post-show, Femi sent a message to Roman Reigns, popularly known as the “Original Tribal Chief,” drawing a loud reaction from fans as he hinted at a possible title challenge before the end of the year.

Continue Reading

Sports

BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

Published

on

By

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and declare MOROCCO the winner of the title.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in the final on 18 January in a match which was overshadowed when the Senegalese players refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of around 17 minutes, the players did eventually return and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

However, that result has now been overturned by CAF.

A statement by the African Football’s Governing Body said that Senegal are “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.

See also  Man ends 29-year-old marriage over witchcraft allegation
Continue Reading

Sports

FG  fulfils promises as D’Tigress receive national honours, house documents

Published

on

By


The Federal Government has fulfilled its outstanding promises to the senior women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, delivering National Honour certificates and title documents for houses in Abuja.

The presentation took place in Lyon, where the African Champions are currently participating  at  the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.

The move follows a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aimed at clearing a backlog of promises made to the team following their 2023 Afrobasket victory in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, led the delegation alongside the Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade. Speaking during the handover, Dikko characterized the prompt delivery as a “clear departure” from previous administrations, where state-promised rewards often faced multi-year delays.

“This is a prompt fulfilment of promises made by a President who leads with action,” Dikko stated. “Mr. President is giving every Nigerian athlete a renewed confidence that sports is a serious business capable of changing lives.”

See also  Man ends 29-year-old marriage over witchcraft allegation

While the physical assets (housing and honours) have been delivered, the NSC Chairman confirmed that the cash rewards promised to the squad are currently in the final stages of administrative processing. He assured the players that disbursement into their respective bank accounts is imminent.

The Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, noted that the current administration of President Tinubu  is institutionalizing a “reward system” modelled after developed sporting nations to ensure high-performance outcomes.

President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr. Musa Kida, credited the Presidency for prioritizing athlete welfare, citing it as a “legacy of a lifetime” for the sports sector.

Head Coach Rena Wakama and Captain Amy Okonkwo formally accepted the documents, affirming that the timely delivery of these incentives would serve as a catalyst for the team’s upcoming international qualifiers.

Continue Reading

Trending News