How NFF settled for Labbadia – Official

Revelations have emerged on how German coach Bruno Labbadia landed the Super Eagle job, despite not being mentioned among the coaches linked with the position until a few hours before his appointment, The PUNCH reports.

Labbadia was announced by the NFF in the early hours of Tuesday, ending the uncertainties surrounding the highest football coaching role in Nigeria.

In a statement, NFF general secretary Mohammed Sanusi said, “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Bruno Labbadia as the head coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect.”

Labbadia’s first game in charge is the 2025 AFCON qualifier against the Benin Republic in Uyo on September 7 before the three-time African champions travel to Rwanda three days later.

According to BBC Sport Africa, the 58-year-old German was interviewed by the NFF last Thursday after talks with Swede Janne Andersson and Frenchman Herve Renard collapsed.

Former EPL coaches Gustavo Poyet, Aitor Karanka, and Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro were the other contenders interviewed late in the day by the football body.

A member of the NFF technical committee, who pleaded anonymity, being not authorised to speak on the issue, corroborated the claims.

“The NFF was concerned about the coaching situation. As someone working under the NFF, I can tell you they were seriously on top of the issue. They were equally sad about not having a coach at this crucial time,” the official said.

“It’s not any coach that you see you appoint. What about the package (money)? You have to be sure of the package you have and can’t just appoint anyone, especially if the money is not something you can work with. It’s not like they didn’t want to appoint a coach,” he added.

The BBC also reported that former Sweden coach Andersson, 61, had been in talks with the NFF and had been set to take charge, but he was only available in November due to “personal commitments,” while two-time AFCON winner Renard, 55, failed to make plans for signing his contract, forcing the NFF to look elsewhere for Finidi George’s successor.

Labbadia is the sixth German to take charge of the Super Eagles, following Karl-Heinz Marotzke (who had two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Goller (1981), Manfred Honer (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008), and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021).

The former Stuttgart coach is now faced with two important qualification campaigns, the 2025 AFCON and 2026 World Cup, as the list of invited players for the first two games have been released in the coming days.