…As Bruno Labbadia turns NFF down
Former captain Augustine Eguavoen have been drafted in by the Glasshouse to take charge of the Super Eagles for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Uyo, 7th September) and Rwanda (Kigali, 10th September).
Eguavoen who is also the technical director of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) was drafted in following the new development with the newly appointed Super Eagles head coach Bruno Labbadia.
The double header AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic and Rwanda next week, is the critical task ahead of Eguavoen as the stand-in coach of the Super Eagles.
Getting the team back on track is one task both the NFF and the technical crew now headed by Eguavoen, as the Super Eagles prepare for next AFCON, Morocco 2025.
The Super Eagles commenced their 2025 AFCON qualifiers with an home game against Benin Republic in Uyo on Saturday September 7, before travelling to play Rwanda in Kigali three days later.
Both Benin Republic and Rwanda are in the same group with Nigeria in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and have not performed well in both legs.
Hence, the immediate task before the former national team captain led technical crew would be to send a sound warning against Benin in Uyo this weekend ahead of next week’s fixtures away to Rwanda.
The NFF announced the appointment of German coach Bruno Labbadia as the new Super Eagles coach last week. However, Labbadia turned down the offer over the weekend.
“We need a manager who can provide actions and solutions as fast as possible,” Oma Akatugba, a Nigerian sport journalist based in Germany said in a monitored interview.
According to him, Nigerian players are currently not playing regularly at the club level; hence the Super Eagles need a manager that can get things going as fast as possible. “I do not think that Bruno Labbadia is that type of a manager,” he said.
He said further that the Super Eagles would be better off with a manager that understands African football with some degree of footballing experience at international level.
“In the situation we found ourselves in, we need a manager who understands the terrain. Working in Africa is special; Nigeria is a specular nation and with what we have, we need a manager who understands Africa,” Akatugba said.
The agreement the NFF have with the German coach is also not clear at the moment as some analysts have fingered the official press statement of the NFF for lacking in key details concerning Labbadia’s contract.
With just six days for the Super Eagles next AFCON qualifiers against Benin Republic, sources within the Glasshouse says the German was yet to agree personal terms with the NFF when the announcement was made.
It was also disclosed that the disagreement between the NFF and Labbadia might be connected to some uncertainties in the contract, which involved a 10 months deal tied to a metrics that the Eagles must qualify for the semi-final of the next AFCON.
