The recent appointment of Bruno Labbadia as the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria has generated a lot of reactions from Nigerians and also former players of the team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Labbadia was named as the new coach of the senior national team of Nigeria, replacing Finidi George who left his role two months ago after a poor showing in the world cup qualifiers.
His first assignment will be the AFCON qualifiers game against Benin Republic on the 7th of September in Uyo, and it will be followed by the second game of the series three days later away to Rwanda.
Speaking on the appointment of the 58 year old, former Nigeria international Emma Okocha says the profile of the coach is one that should get Nigerians excited as he get set to begin his role in a few weeks time.
“You have to look at it from the positive side,” the 1990 African Cup of Nations campaigner told SportsBoom.com.
“This position had dragged on for a long time, but we can only now hope the NFF had made the best choice of this appointment.”
“He’s a well exposed man [Labbadia] and looking at his profile with the German clubsides he’s managed previously, Nigerians can get excited. He need to remain calm and focus on the task he’s being brought in to fill. Of course, it won’t be easy, if you look at the state of the team.
“If he has the players to achieve success? Definitely. He has everything he will need”, the elder brother to former Super Eagles captain Austine Okocha reckoned.
He however said the coach faces an uphill task in turning around the fortune of the team instantly due to the position that they are at the moment heading into the AFCON qualifiers.
“The only downside of his appointment is that he’s come in at a time the team desperately need to get results, so it makes his task a real big one”, the former SV Wehen midfielder said.
“We’ve seen the team struggling recently after the last AFCON, so he will need to rebuild and repair a lot of things, which means he will need wins to become a man for the team and the fans.”
