A few days after a Nigerian entrepreneur, Nneka Ede, became the first African woman to own a football club in Europe, another historic feat has been recorded by a Nigerian with a European club.
Coach Emmanuel Egbo over the weekend led his team, KF Tirana, to win the 2019/20 Albania League title.
The 46-year-old is now the first Nigerian coach to win a title with a European league side and is also believed to be the first African to do same.
Egbo, 46, made 12 appearances for the Super Eagles between 1999 and 2002 during which time he manned the goal for Tirana, winning three trophies with the club.
Following his retirement from playing in 2011, Egbo went into coaching, becoming the goalkeeping coach of another Albanian side, Bylis, before returning to Tirana in 2014 in the same capacity.
In 2019, the ex-Nigeria international was promoted to become Tirana’s head coach and he has now done remarkably well; winning the league title in his first year in charge.
Interestingly, KF Tirana who will be celebrating their 100th anniversary this month will have a chance to clinch a domestic double on August 2, when they face Teuta Durres in the Domestic Cup final.
But while they wait for what would be the icing on the cake for them, Tirana fans are all in the joyous mood already having ended their decade-long wait for a league title.
This is the 25th title for KF Tirana since the club was formed.
Another big record for Egbo is that his club will be playing in the Champions League next season
Apart from being the most successful Albanian team in all domestic competitions, Tirana have also put in the best performances in Europe, reaching the Round of 16 in European Competitions four times; a feat Egbo will be looking to match or surpass next season.
Cover Photo: Emmanuel Egbo
(Premium Times)
Leave a comment