By Daily Sports Nigeria on January 23, 2024

Super Eagles defender, William Troost-Ekong, faces a race to be fit for the rest of the tournament after missing Nigeria’s final group game against Guinea-Bissau, The PUNCH reports.

Troost-Ekong, whose penalty sealed a 1-0 win for the Eagles over the Ivory Coast in their second group-stage match, reportedly suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of that game, according to aclsports.com.

According to the report, the 30-year-old has been unable to train with the rest of his teammates since after the Ivory Coast match, working separately on his own with the ball at the Police College, Cocody, Abidjan.

It is expected that Troost-Ekong will continue to undergo treatment while it is hoped that he recovers before the Eagles last-16 tie.

Meanwhile, the former Udinese and Watford defender also adds that the current Eagles team might be the best he has played in.

“It is so early still, but my belief in the team has stayed the same,” Troost-Ekong told the BBC.

“If I look at the players we have now, it might be the best team I have played in for Nigeria. That is with all due respect to some of the legends that have been there.”

He backed the “most exciting attack in Africa” to light up the tournament.

“I was not surprised, I know what the defenders can do as well and I believe so much in this group,” he said.

“I think we have maybe been underrated a little bit defensively.”

Troost-Ekong, who is wearing boots made from bamboo and other sustainable materials at the AFCON, was born just outside Amsterdam to a Nigerian father and Dutch mother and was capped at youth level by The Netherlands.

The former Groningen defender, who also had spells with Udinese and Watford, admits he dreamed of representing the Oranje senior team before a call from Stephen Keshi. The Eagles coach, convinced him to pull on a Nigerian shirt.

“I watched a lot of football with my dad. He was always watching the Eagles, but growing up in Holland, I also dreamed about playing for the Dutch national team,” the defender, who moved to England aged 12 to attend boarding school, said.

“But when I got the phone call from Stephen Keshi at the time, who was a player and a legend who I watched growing up as a kid, especially as a central defender, I was kind of taken aback — and for him to ask me to play for Nigeria, I didn’t have to think twice.”

Source Punch Ng

Posted January 23, 2024

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