Afrigather Tremendous Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong has acknowledged that he has to win the Africa Cup of Nations earlier than he might be thought of a Nigerian nice, Soccernet.ng reviews.
Troost-Ekong has been probably the most constant performers for Nigeria since his debut in 2015. The PAOK defender has made 71 appearances for the Tremendous Eagles and has confirmed to be a dependable chief, as he has been the stand-in captain within the absence of Ahmed Musa.
Nevertheless, the 30-year-old defender peaked for Nigeria on the 2023 Africa Cup. Troost-Ekong scored three objectives in six appearances. He additionally gained the Participant of the Event award after serving to the Tremendous Eagles to a second-place end and breaking multiple records.
Following his efficiency on the AFCON, Troost-Ekong has earned Nigerian followers’ respect and has additionally grow to be a favorite. Additionally, he may simply be talked about amongst Nigeria’s best defenders of all time. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old defender has downplayed such talks as he feels he has not achieved sufficient to succeed in that pedestal.
“I discover it tough to speak about myself as a terrific. I’ve seen my identify talked about with another greats, which is already an enormous honor for me,” Troost-Ekong exclusively told Soccernet.ng.
“Stephen Keshi was my first coach, somebody I appeared as much as, somebody I’ve missed very a lot. To be in the identical sentence as him, I take into consideration his AFCON achievements.
“For Joseph Yobo, I feel there was a stat, one thing about what number of occasions I captained the crew and I used to be getting near him, or possibly I surpassed him.
“Additionally, there’s Taribo West, who simply celebrated his fiftieth birthday. So, after I see gamers like that and the legacy they’ve left, you solely dream about having the ability to be in that dialog. However I nonetheless suppose I’ve fairly a technique to go. I have to win an AFCON, that’s the baseline. Now we have gamers like Kenneth Omeruo who’ve gained it.
“We’ve gone from third place to second place. So hopefully, the subsequent AFCON we will win it, after which we will have a dialog about being among the many greatest.”
To be among the many greatest, I have to win the Afcon, stated @WTroostEkong after we talked at his beautiful residence in Thessaloniki final month. Be careful for extra snippets from the interview over the subsequent few days. @soccernet_ng #football #nigeria #supereagles #stephenkeshi #Josephyobo… pic.twitter.com/TovMVfj3NR
— Lolade Adewuyi (@Jololade) April 21, 2024
Troost-Ekong has been injured for the reason that finish of the AFCON. Therefore, he missed the final worldwide break when Nigeria performed Ghana and Mali.
Nevertheless, he’s anticipated to be obtainable for choice within the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in opposition to South Africa in June.
