Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has congratulated Ndubuisi Egbo after leading KF Tirana to clinch the Albanian league on Saturday.
The former Super Eagles goalkeeper achieved the feat after guiding the Tirona to a 2-0 home victory over Flamurtari at the weekend which saw them open a seven-point gap at the top of the table.
It is the first time the Selman Stermasi Stadium outfit will win the Kategoria Superiore title and have also secured a place in the Champions League qualifying round.
Egbo, thus, becomes the first Nigerian manager to win a European trophy and the football governing body has sent him a congratulatory message.
“It was with a huge sense of pride that the NFF and the entire Nigerian football family learnt of your exemplary achievement as the first-ever Nigerian, black and African coach to win a major European League, as you have steered KF Tirana to the Albanian top-tier championship with few matches left in the on-going season,” read a statement from the NFF.
“In the process, you also became the first African to qualify a team for the Uefa Champions League competition.
“The fact that KF Tirana was unable to win any silverware since the year 2018 until your arrival in December 2019 puts your accomplishment in proper perspective.
“Certainly, your rare character traits of sobriety, quiet confidence, seamless application and effortless brilliance, so evident in your days with the Super Eagles, when you steered your team to glory.
“This achievement is no doubt a marker for other Nigerian coaches, including your fellow ex-internationals, that by working assiduously and diligently in a noble way, they can indeed go out there and break the proverbial glass ceiling.
“On our part, we wish you and KF Tirana an enriching and fulfilling experience in the UEFA Champions League, where you are bound to come across much tougher encounters, but you have already demonstrated that you have the capacity to be unflappable when the going gets tough.”
Egbo, who started his managerial career with Bylis, has been with the Albanian side since 2014 as a goalkeeping manager before he was made coach of the side in 2019.
The 46-year-old had 12 caps for the Super Eagles and was part of the team that featured at the 2000 and 2002 Africa Cup of Nations.
