The Nigeria Football Federation has announced that it has reached an agreement with German tactician, Bruno Labbadia, to become the Head Coach of Nigeria’s Senior Men National Team, Super Eagles.

NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, said in the early hours of Tuesday: “The NFF Executive Committee has approved the recommendation of its Technical and Development Sub-Committee to appoint Mr. Bruno Labbadia as the Head Coach of the Super Eagles. The appointment is with immediate effect.”

Born in Darmstadt, Germany on 8th February 1966, Labbadia, who won two caps for Die Mannschaft in his playing career that took him through clubs such as home-town team Darmstadt 98, Hamburger SV, FC Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich, FC Cologne, Werder Bremen, Armenia Bielefeld and Karlsruher SC, triumphed in the German Bundesliga with Bayern Munich as a player in 1994.

He coached famous names Hertha Berlin and VfB Stuttgart this decade, and previously, VfL Wolfsburg, Hamburger SV, Bayer Leverkusen, among others, and holds a UEFA Pro License.

He is only the sixth German, after Karl-Heinz Marotzke (who had two stints between 1970 and 1974), Gottlieb Göller (1981), Manfred Höner (1988-1989), Berti Vogts (2007-2008) and Gernot Rohr (2016-2021) to lead the Super Eagles.

Höner led the Eagles to runner-up position at the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations, while Rohr qualified and led Nigeria to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia.

Labbadi’s immediate challenge is to take charge of the three-time African champions for two 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Benin Republic (Saturday 7th Septemberin Uyo) and Rwanda (Tuesday, 10th Septemberin Kigali), with four other matches to conclude the qualifying race following in the months of October and November.

South Africa survived a Cape Verde’s scare to win on penalties and set up a semi-final clash with Nigeria at the ongoing African Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire

Goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was the hero as South Africa beat Cape Verde 5-3 on penalties following a goalless 120 minutes to advance to the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals.

After a tense last eight clash ended 0-0 at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro on Saturday night, Williams remarkably saved four spot-kicks in the shootout to send Bafana Bafana through.

Both sides started brightly in an open first half, but stellar defending and top-class goalkeeping from Williams and Cape Verde’s Vozinha kept the game goalless at the break.

The second half followed a similar pattern as the teams traded blows in search of the breakthrough. But a combination of desperation and brilliant defending saw numerous chances go begging.

Cape Verde almost stole it in added time when Gelson Tavares pounced on a deep ball only to smash his shot off the bar with Williams getting a hand to it. 0-0 after 90 minutes meant extra time.

The additional 30 minutes brought more chances, with South Africa’s Fagrie Lakay forcing a superb save from Vozinha. But the deadlock remained to send the quarter-final into penalties.

After an impressive four penalty saves by Williams, Bafana Bafana secured their place in the semi-finals for the first time since 2000 where they will meet Nigeria.

Post-match reactions:

Hugo Bruce – South African coach

“When we got to the penalty shootout, it was a special thing for the players, because during training they were scoring them. When we have a goalkeeper who stops 4 penalty kicks, this is not luck but a lot of hard work.

Not many people in South Africa believed in this team, but we believed in it, and the players believed in themselves as well. Reaching the semi-finals is in itself a good thing for South African football.

There was a lot of pressure in the match. Everyone wanted to qualify. This match was unlike the previous ones. We did not show the same performance as we had in previous matches.

The semi-final match will be different against Nigeria, which has good players like Lookman. We will not lose focus. The players will be in good condition, so we need to rest and recover to start our preparation”.

Bobista – Cape Verde coach

“Congratulations to South African. We wanted to win the match, but this is football. In my opinion, we had several chances to win this match. We have a good team, and we also faced a good competitor. We had several chances to kill the match, but we were not able to.

We had a good journey, and we also deserved to be in the semi-finals. Our people will be happy with what we presented in the competition.

We were the best in some phases of this match, and you know in such competitions, when you fail to score it will be complicated, and as for penalty kicks, sometimes there is luck.

The players who took the penalties are the best in our team, but when you are tired it is difficult. I am proud of our players, they showed their character.” (CAFonline)

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed he will step down as the club’s manager at the end of the season – almost nine years since taking over from Brendan Rodgers

Jurgen Klopp has explained why he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season, citing his departure down to “running out of energy”.

The 56-year-old replaced Brendan Rodgers as the club’s new manager in October 2015 and has since transformed the Reds’ fortunes, winning the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Club World Cup during his time at Liverpool. However, the German has now confirmed he will leave Anfield in the summer.

Explaining his reasons behind his exit, Klopp said: “It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy. I have no problem now, obviously, I knew it already for longer that I will have to announce it at one point, but I am absolutely fine now. I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.

“After the years we had together and after all the time we spent together and after all the things we went through together, the respect grew for you, the love grew for you and the least I owe you is the truth – and that is the truth.”
The news of Klopp’s departure has shocked fans across the world, while Jamie Carragher is ex-Liverpool players who have been left stunned by the announcement. He said on Twitter: “This news was always going to be a body blow to the club whenever it came. I just thought it would be another few years away. What a manager, what a man, let’s go out with a bang Jurgen!”

Liverpool could still win four trophies before the end of the season. The Reds booked their place in the Carabao Cup final after beating Fulham 3-2 on aggregate, while Klopp’s side face Norwich in the FA Cup fourth round this weekend. They are also in the Europa League last 16 and sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a serious possibility of winning the top-flight this season.

“I can understand that it’s a shock for a lot of people in this moment, when you hear it for the first time, but obviously I can explain it – or at least try to explain it,” Klopp also said when he announced his departure.

“I love absolutely everything about this club, I love everything about the city, I love everything about our supporters, I love the team, I love the staff. I love everything. But that I still take this decision shows you that I am convinced it is the one I have to take.”