Precious Josiah
The Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) has eulogized Super Eagles captain William Troost Ekong who announced his retirement from international football on Thursday.
The federation in a statement on Friday said the player deserved encomium after dispassionately evaluating his 10-year stewardship with the Senior National Team of Nigeria (Super Eagles).
“Captain Troost-Ekong was a dedicated, selfless and humble leader of the Super Eagles for so many years, having started his international journey in the year 2015,” the NFF statement read.
Scoring a goal against Cote d’Ivoire in the last AFCON
“He served with gusto, zeal and patriotic fervour, and he bestrode the pitch with passion, pride, purpose and commendable sense of duty.
“Even as just another member of the group, before he became the captain, Troost-Ekong was pleasant, disciplined and ambitious, and he wore the green-and-white with so much joy, zest, and focus.”
The Federation also recalled Troost-Ekong’s service delivery over the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2019, 2021 and 2023, noting that it was a marker for younger footballers to seek to emulate.
“His silver and bronze medals from the continental championship are mere drops in a fabulous journey that saw him play in the biggest stage of them all – the FIFA World Cup finals – and score telling goals for Nigeria at international level, ” the football house noted.
“In the same vein, his 83 caps for motherland across five competitions means he is leaving the stage a fulfilled man, and can reflect on his decade-long stewardship with so much pride and sense of accomplishment.
“Aside from his three crucial goals for the Super Eagles as they reached the Final of the last edition of the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, Troost-Ekong was, deservedly so, named the Man of the Competition (otherwise known as Most Valuable Player of the Tournament).
“As he retires from the international game, the Nigeria Football Federation wishes William Troost-Ekong the very best in his future endeavours, and will do whatever we can, within our capacity, to help him accomplish his future goals and objectives within the round-leather game.”
While announcing his retirement on Thursday on Instagram, Troost-Ekong expressed gratitude for the opportunity to represent Nigeria, describing it as the greatest privilege of his career and affirming that while his journey on the pitch has ended, his support for the team will continue as he looks forward to a new chapter.
“Honoured. Grateful. Forever a Super Eagle. Playing for Nigeria has been the greatest privilege of my life,” Troost Ekong said.
“The journey may end here, but my support never will. Here’s to the next chapter.”
Troost-Ekong, who plays for Al-Kholood in the Saudi Pro League, was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Nigerian father.
After representing the Netherlands at the youth level, he committed his senior international future to Nigeria and made his debut on June 13, 2015, in an AFCON qualifying match against Chad.
His tally of five goals at the AFCON remains the highest scored by a defender in the history of the competition and will now stand as an unbroken record following his decision to step away from the team.
The defender scored eight goals in 83 appearances, with his final outing coming as a late substitute against Gabon on November 13.
He has not featured prominently under head coach Eric Chelle recently and was an unused substitute in the decisive World Cup play-off loss to DR Congo, a defeat that confirmed Nigeria’s failure to reach the tournament.
Troost-Ekong was included in Nigeria’s provisional 54-man squad for the forthcoming AFCON in Morocco in December, and the final list is expected to be trimmed to 28 players.
The squad is due to begin camp in Egypt on December 10 ahead of the tournament’s start on December 21.
His retirement means the Super Eagles will now move forward without one of their most experienced figures as Chelle finalises his selection for the competition