The appointment of Bruno Labbadia as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria was made possible by a powerful endorsement from a former captain of the Nigerian team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Labbadia was picked by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the replacement for Finidi George, who left his role as coach two months ago after a disappointing performance in the world cup qualifiers.
His appointment wasn’t popular among the hierarchy of the NFF , but the camp of the minister for sports senator John Enoh were fully in support of his taking over as the coach.
One person who drove his case was Austine Jay Jay Okocha, who was a teammate of Labbadia at Eintracht Frankfurt during his playing days , and followed the progress of his former teammate when he made the transition to becoming a coach.
Okocha assured the NFF that his ex teammate’s reputation of steadying the ship of sinking clubs in the Bundesliga makes him the perfect fit for the job, considering the position of the Super Eagles in the world cup qualifiers group.
He said the Eagles who are 5th in the 6 team group, four points behind group leaders Rwanda need a coach like Labbadia who has been in such situations many times in his career with huge success, earning himself the nickname ” The Fire Fighter”.
His argument helped the NFF to pick the 58 year old ahead of Spanish coach Aitor Karanka who was seen as a better option among the last four shortlisted for the job, which includes two others in Gustavo Poyet and Fabio Cannavaro.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
