I almost quit the Super Eagles because of Jose Peseiro - Super Eagles captain
Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong said he almost quit the Super Eagles six months before the AFCON 2023 finals in Ivory Coast, Nigeriasoccernet.com gathered.
Ekong who made his international debut for Nigeria in 2015 was not on talking terms with Jose Peseiro for months but the intervention of the people around him help resolve the issues.
“[It] resulted in us not actually speaking for a few months,” the defender told CNN World Sport’s Amanda Davies in a recent interview.
Still battling with the disappointment of missing out of the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, Troost-Ekong was concerned with how he was being treated by the Portuguese manager.
“That was the time where my pride and ego, I think maybe got the better of me. I thought about stopping,” he added. “Thankfully, I’ve got a good group of people around me who took me out of it.”
Subsequent discussions with family and friends cast the 30-year-old’s mind back to 2015 and his international debut. Born to a Dutch mother, Troost-Ekong played for The Netherlands at the youth level before eventually choosing to represent his father’s homeland, accumulating over 70 caps to date.
“[It] made me think about my younger self and, how much it meant and how proud I was to play my first game [for Nigeria],” he said.
“I deserved to give my younger self a better ending. So that was the thing that changed my mind … I think my career has always been a testament of not giving up.”
The Super Eagles had a slow start to the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations playing a 1-all draw with Equatorial Guinea, but back-to-back 1-0 wins over the host Ivory Coast secured via a Troost-Ekong penalty –and Guinea Bissau booked their spot in the knockout stages.
William Troost-Ekong contributed immensely to Nigeria's campaign at the last AFCON scoring four times including a header against host Ivory Coast in the final. He was also voted to player of the tournament as Nigeria finish runner up to the host.
By Oluwayemi Omolagba
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