Bruno Labbadia will not be the new national coach of Nigeria. The 58-year-old German soccer coach had been negotiating with the Africans for a week and, according to information on Friday, decided against a commitment
The Nigerian Football Federation went public with a statement via X on Tuesday and announced the agreement with the former goal scorer. “Bruno Labbadia becomes the 37th head coach of the Super Eagles. The Nigeria Football Federation announces that it has reached an agreement with the German coach for the position of head coach of the senior national team.” A premature tweet. Because: On Monday, the coach and the association bosses had largely reached agreement on the key financial figures, but organizational issues were still unresolved
In addition to the details that still needed to be clarified, the public advance of the association’s leadership is said to have been one of the reasons why Labbadia canceled on Friday. Before him, the Super Eagles had already been coached by Germany’s Gernot Rohr and former national coach Berti Vogts, among others. The Hamburg-based coach was expected to continue a certain tradition and take up his post on Sunday to lead Nigeria to the 2026 World Cup. The team is only in fifth place in Group C in qualifying after picking up just three points from four games. Talks about a commitment began last weekend and were initially very fruitful – but there was never a commitment or even a signature from the coach, as reported by the association.
Offer seemed very attractive in sporting terms
Labbadia, with a reputation in the Bundesliga as a man for particularly difficult cases after successful rescue missions at Hamburger SV, VfL Wolfsburg and Hertha BSC, among others, was attracted by the challenging task in Nigeria. After leaving VfB Stuttgart in spring 2023, he initially withdrew from the soccer business and deliberately sought distance. After receiving various inquiries, the most recent offer seemed extremely attractive, especially in sporting terms, but the collaboration ultimately fell through due to organizational issues that could not be resolved in the short time available. However, Labbadia has not yet given up his dream of taking over a national team
