Ndubuisi Egbo becomes the first Nigerian coach to win a national league title with FK Tirana

FORMER Super Eagles goalkeeper Ndubuisi Egbo has become the first Nigerian head coach to lead a European team to a league title after his FK Tirana side won the Albanian league title over the weekend.

Egbo, 46 played for the Super Eagles between 1999 and 2002 during which time he manned 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, Egbo was promoted to become Tirana's head coach and yesterday he won his first trophy with the club after second-place Kukesi lost 1-0 at struggling Vllaznia. Egbo is now on course to become the first-ever Nigerian and African coach to win a double as Tirana are also in the final of the Albanian Cup.

Yesterday's  title win is Tirana’s 25th and their first since 2009, meaning the club will now feature in next season’s Uefa Champions League qualification stage. Apart from being the most successful Albanian teams in all domestic competitions, Tirana have also put in the best performances in Europe, reaching the Round of 16 in European Competitions four times.

In the FA Cup, Tirana overcame a 2-1 first-leg deficit against KF Bylis Ballsh to win 2-0 in the second leg to advance to the final with a 3-2 aggregate win. The newly crowned Albanian champions will face KS Teuta Durres in the final billed for August 1.