Iyanda Ahmed@Ahmed

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed Labbadia’s appointment on Tuesday with the German becoming 37th Head Coach of the Super Eagles. 

Jose Peseiro, who coached the team during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), departed and his successor Finidi George resigned two months ago.

Bruno Labbadia is a German football manager and former player. He played as a striker for several clubs, including Bayern Munich, Hamburg, and Cologne, and earned two caps for the Germany national team.

“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,” read a statement from Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, NFF general secretary. “The appointment is with immediate effect.”

During his playing career, Labbadia scored over 200 goals across the top two divisions of German football including a three-season spell with Bayern Munich, with whom he won the Bundesliga title in 1994.

Labbadia is known for his tactical acumen and ability to improve teams’ defensive solidity. He has achieved promotion to the Bundesliga with Darmstadt 98 and Greuther Fürth and has also led teams to European qualification.

The German was born on February 8, 1966, in Darmstadt, West Germany.

Bruno Labbadia: From Italian roots to German fields

According to reports, Labbadia’s parents are Italians with his family roots going back to Lenola, a town in the Lazio region.

His Italian parents relocated to Germany as Gastarbeiter and settled in Schneppenhausen near Darmstadt in Hesse.

When he was 18 years old, Labbadia gave up Italian citizenship and became a German citizen since in Germany only two foreigners were eligible to play in one team at the time.

He has played as a striker for various clubs, including Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Köln, Werder Bremen, Arminia Bielefeld, and Karlsruher SC.

He has 557 club football appearances and scored 204 goals. He won the DFB-Pokal with FC Kaiserslautern in 1989-90, and the Bundesliga with FC Bayern Munich in 1993-94.

He only got to play two games for the German national team. The 58-year-old has not previously coached a national team but has had periods with prominent teams such as Darmstadt 98 – 2003-2006, Greuther Fürth, 2007-2008, and Bayer Leverkusen 2008-2009 Career highlights: Hamburger SV (2009-2010), VfB Stuttgart (2010-2013), Hamburger SV (2015-2016), VfL Wolfsburg (2018-19), Hertha BSC (2020-2021), and VfB Stuttgart (2022-2023).

Throughout his managerial career, Labbadia demonstrated a willingness to trust and develop emerging talent.

At VfL Wolfsburg, he was instrumental in the development of talents like Josip Brekalo and John Brooks.

While Labbadia’s managerial career has had its highs, it’s also seen its share of lows. He has been sacked multiple times, most recently from VfB Stuttgart after a poor run of results.

Labbadia, the ‘Relegation Specialist’

Known for saving  clubs from the brink of relegation, Labbadia has succeeded in rescuing clubs from the jaws of relegation. Few can match his track record in this regard: dubbed the “relegation specialist,” Labbadia has repeatedly stepped in to guide teams to safety just when all seemed lost. His impressive feats include saving Hamburg from the drop in 2015 and steering Wolfsburg clear of danger in 2018. While Nigeria aren’t facing relegation, the former African champions find themselves in a challenging position in the World Cup qualifiers.

Labbadia’s first match in charge will be an AFCON qualifier at home to Benin on September 7 before an away match in Rwanda three days later.