But for FK Tirana president’s tenacious belief, self conviction and patience, the superlative performance of former Super Eagles goalkeeper and head coach of the team, Ndubuisi Egbo, couldn’t have been realized. The 2002 AFCON bronze medalist spoke with TUNDE LIADI about his twisted journey to the top of Albanian Super League.
TWISTED JOURNEY
For Nigeria ex-international, Ndubuisi Egbo, climbing to the top of the Albanian Premier League was fraught with challenges that he couldn’t have surmounted but for patiently walking and working a regimented plan of self belief and can-do-it attitude.
Egbo bided his time working his way from player to player/trainer to assistant coach before assuming the head coach position late 2019. His voyage was not smooth but twisted as he had to move out to prove himself before FK Tirana president Refik Halili brought him back to his first club in Europe, made him to take over the team at a time it was battling relegation, guided the team back to contention and to the very top.
Ego’s feat in Tirana has become folklore story, but he said providence shine on him. A journey that took 19 years to achieve.
“I played for Julius Berger in 1998 before moving to Al Masry of Port Said, Egypt, where I played for three seasons. At the expiration of my contract I joined FK Tirana, a move that was initiated by President Al Masry, who was also the helmsman at the club in Albania. That was how I came 2001 to play for FK Tirana which is the same team I have led to the league title this season. I was there as a goalkeeper between 2001 and 2004 and we won also the League, the Cup and the Super Cup in those years.”
FROM SA TO EGYPT
Egbo left FK Tirana for short spells in South Africa and Egypt for two years but returned to Albania to play for rival FK Bylis.
“I hung my boots in 2011 to go into coaching and got my goalkeeping license and the UEFA A license. In 2013-14 I got my UEFA Pro license and became head coach of FK Bylis in the Albanian Super League. In 2014-15, Halili invited me to join his team as an assistant coach and goalkeeper coach.”
From 2014, Egbo diligently worked with different head coaches, who were replaced after string of poor performances. The sack of their former head coach in December 2019, open way for him but not before president Halili pulled strings.
SKEPTICISM
“When the second coach was sacked over poor result the club president preferred I took over the team. We were in the eighth position out of 10 teams and had to play in the playoffs to retain our topflight status. I was skeptical but the president forced me to take the offer. I took the team through it. We won our opening three games and I was given the opportunity to continue the job. We played 24 games and we won about 20 out of it. We lost three and drew one. It became a record and we were able to win the Albanian League for the first time in 11 years. We were unbeaten in the opening 17 games before we lost in the 18th game of the season. No coach or any team has done that in over 30 years in Albania.”
It is on record that Egbo was the first foreign coach to win the league title with FK Tirana, creating a seven point gap between her and the second placed Kukesi. They won with two games to spare. Tirana are the biggest team in Albania and have won 25 league titles.
CHALLENGES
Victory in a foreign land did not come without the obvious challenges.
“The key factor is God Almighty that made it possible for me to achieve the success and to also break some records. The challenges are many in a team with close to 30 players we will have players with different traits and mindsets. You have to possess the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to be able to manage them. The managerial skill that God endowed on me was among the factors that did a lot of things for me.”
The language and culture barrier were also there.
“Language is a very huge hurdle. I know how to speak Albanian language and I am also like a citizen of the country. I have the Albanian passport and the European passport. It makes it easier when you can speak the language of the country you are. It is a big hurdle being an African in Europe. Some people are jealous of your achievements and may be scheming for your downfall. You have to be closer to God and not believe in your own idea or work that you do. I am a fighter and will like to push through whatever I lay my hands upon with God’s support. I have developed a thick skin to face all opposition. The more they seek my fall the more I’m motivated to work harder and overcome my challenges.
“Impossibility is nothing in football. You have to work harder and put your faith in God. You need to read, train yourself and always be ready to achieve your set goals. You must always be ready to give your best if you are given the task. You must have something different from the other coaches be cause you cannot become a coach in a foreign land if you do not have something special than others there. It was what the President of the club saw in me that I can deliver the job. They were the one that forced me to take up the job because FK Tirana is the biggest club in the country and I was skeptical initially about it.”
RACISM
Egbo also face racism challenge in ‘smaller scale’ in Albania.
“Racism is not only in Albania. If there can be racism in America you can imagine how it will be in a small country like Albania in Europe. There is racism in a smaller scale but because I understand their language and their culture, I am more welcomed than those that cannot speak their language. There are good people and bad people everywhere and same thing is applicable in Albania. Many Albanians are very good to live with and the fact that I speak their language gives me an edge.”
Egbo said his self-belief persona and good demeanor also helped him.
“I always tell some Nigerians and other African countries here that anywhere you go you must leave your footsteps in the sands of time. I played here from 2001 to 2004 and because of what I did in the team and the legacy I left as a person not only as a goalkeeper but my personality, character and the manner of approach made the President of the club to lure me to return when he saw me coaching another team in Albania. He knows I know that the team has a winning mentality and that is what I tried to instill into the team. I showed them the culture and mentality, psychology and the personality of the team that they are club that cherish winning. It was this that made us turn the tide from being placed eighth position on the league table needing relegation playoffs to survive and go to the top of the league table and winning it with the same set of players.”
SUPER EAGLES
Casting back to his days in the Super Eagles, he said he does not have any regret playing only a handful of games. He played 12 times with AFCON bronze to show. “I do not have regrets not playing as many matches that I would have loved to for the Super Eagles. I succeeded in playing a couple of matches for the national team but with very good goalkeepers plying their trade in better leagues in Europe in the team, I know that my chances would be limited. We had quality goalkeepers like Ike Shorunmu, Willy Opara and Murphy Akanji. I was the second choice behind Shorunmu for the 2000 and 2002 AFCON. I lost my position in the team at the 2002 World Cup because I was playing in Albania coupled with changes in the national team after the Mali 2002 AFCON.”
MARITAL LIFE
On a lighter mood, Egbo, who is married to her longtime lover from Philippines, would have been a pharmacist or electrical engineer if not for his love for football.
“I would have been an electrical engineer because that is what I studied during my academic years or a pharmacist because I want to develop medicine that will help to heal people. I am married and my wife is from the Philippines and we don’t have any children yet but by his grace we are expecting our first child by next year.”
He also loves Nigerian dishes. “I enjoy eating Asian dishes because my wife is a good cook,” Egbo added.
ONE ON ONE WITH EGBO
You cannot compare the Nigerian league with Albania. The Albanian League is more of European football. It is more of Italian League because of the country’s nearness to Italy and both countries play similar type of football. They are tactically and physically strong unlike Nigerian league that is a mixture of entertainment, skill and strength.
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Other continents respect their coaches why are we not doing the same? Sunday Oliseh, Emmanuel Amuneke and Samson Siasia were there. We just need to support our coaches. If we can give them the opportunity to work without interference it will be fine. We don’t allow domestic coaches to do as much as they will like to do freely. Oliseh was there and I think he tried his best but maybe some people do not like his manner of approach because of his strong mentality.
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When you employ a coach, you just have to accept everything about him and allow him to do his job. If he doesn’t succeed after being given free-hand then you have the right to do whatever you want to do with him. You must give him 100 percent support to help him achieve his objectives. I believe our domestic or local coaches should be given a lot more opportunities to improve to achieve things. If Amuneke was able to achieve with the Under 17 and Under 20 national teams why not give him more opportunities to continue with the Super Eagles?
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What I think Super Eagles need is to work on is getting more quality players to make the competition for shirts more intense. During my time, you cannot categorically mention who was the best player in the team. We had Celestine Babayaro, Tijani Babangida, Kanu Nwankwo, Finidi George, Victor Ikpeba and other fantastic players. But these days we can count only a handful of our very talented players. Before the start of a game our opponents are already psychologically down because of the array of stars in the Eagles.
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