Football
Emma Okocha thumbs up Bruno Labbadia's Super Eagles appointment, but acknowledges the tough task at hand
Former Super Eagle Emma Okocha supports Bruno Labbadia's appointment as Nigeria's head coach, recognizing his experience but acknowledging the challenges ahead, especially with the urgent need for results.
Image Credit: Emma Okocha X
Former Super Eagle Emma Okocha is optimistic of the chances of the Nigeria national team under the new man at the helm Bruno Labbadia, SportsBoom reports.
After months of drawn out search for a new head coach following the departure of ex-boss Finidi George, the Nigeria Football Federation yesterday announced the installment of the former Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen manager.
The news was sudden, and the choice had left both the fans and the media with a poignant feeling, judging that the German was originally not in the picture as one of the candidates touted for the job.
The need to remain positive
Okocha believes Labbadia brings with him a huge wealth of experience and looking at his profile managing top German clubs, there is the need to harbour positive thoughts about his appointment.
"You have to look at it from the positive side," the 1990 African Cup of Nations campaigner told SportsBoom.
"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.
Emma Okocha
Super Eagles need results, and fast
Labbadia will have to get the team ticking straight away when he resumes duties early next month with a stern test against Benin Republic for the AFCON 2025, a side which bested them the last time they traded tackles for a world cup berth.
Recall that the 2-1 loss in Abidjan contrived with a couple of outcomes leading up to the resignation of Finidi, and there will be no honeymoon judging by the implication of any unsavoury result he chalks up now.
Okocha feels that could just be the only sticking point for the tactician coming into the role, hence the need to get an already jaded fanbase to his side again with a decent performance.
"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.
Emma Okocha
Shortly after the new manager's announcement, the NFF also revealed her list for the September assignment, a roster which included most of the Eagles big names that starred en route to the final of the last continental competition. A couple of weeks from now, Super Eagles fans can glimpse how their new gaffer can harness and bring the best out of of them.
Since he broke loose from the shackles of long hours huddled up in a hot classroom learning Mandarin Chinese and Pinyin at the famous Confucius Institute, UNIZIK, Emmanuel Chinaza has embraced sports and football in particular, and it helped that he grew up in the football-crazy city of Anambra.