Ndubuisi Egbo has emerged as the first Nigerian football manager to win a UEFA Champions League match after KF Tirana beat Georgia’s Dinamo Tbilisi 2-0 away in the first qualifying round.
Argentine midfielder Agustin Torassa handed the Albanians a first-half lead thanks to his effort during added time, while Marsel Ismailgeci sealed the win with his 86th-minute effort.
With that, he also became the first Nigerian to win a game as well as the first man from the West African nation to make a winning debut in the tournament.
Before the game against Tbilisi, he expressed his desire to become the first Nigerian to coach a team in the Champions League group stage.
In the words of 47-year-old Ndubuisi Egbo:
“I’m looking forward to the game. I’m not chasing personal records. I’m a team player.
My aim is to take the Albanian champions to the Uefa Champions League group stage and show what they can do.
We are concentrating on winning the tie. That’s my focus as we have 80 per cent of the team that won the league but we have three new players coming into the team.”
Thanks to this result, they will lock horns with Red Star Belgrade in the second qualifying round on August 26.
The Serbian SuperLiga side that defeated Europa 5-0 in their first qualifier boasts Gabon’s Guelor Kanga, Ghana’s Richmond Boakye, Comoros’ El Fardou Ben and Cote d’Ivoire’s Sekou Sanogo in their ranks.
Egbo, who represented Nigeria at two Africa Cup of Nations has been with Tirana since 2014 and has taken on the managerial role on an interim basis on multiple occasions, saying he turned down offers to take on the job permanently as he believed he was not qualified enough.
