William Troost-Ekong speaks on decision to play for Super Eagles
Captain of the Super Eagles, William Troost-Ekong, has opened up on his decision to play for the Super Eagles rather than the Netherlands, his birth country.
He revealed that a phone call from late coach Stephen Keshi and the prospect of international football at age 21 influenced his decision to represent Nigeria.
The Al-Kholood defender, speaking on the Sports Afterparty Podcast, explained that the opportunity to play for Nigeria came at a crucial point in his career.
According to him, when the call to join the Nigeria’s Senior men’s football team came, he had no real prospect in the Netherlands senior team.
He stated, “Just at the start of the season, I had played for the Dutch U19 and U20 squads, but there was no real perspective yet for the first team.”
“The choice was between trying to progress and later in my career maybe have a chance to play for the Netherlands or have a chance now to play for the Super Eagles, who were kind of going through a transition stage where a lot of their defenders at that time were a little bit older, so I knew that they wanted to make some changes there.”
The 30-year-old defender has become one of Nigeria’s most consistent performers since making his debut 10 years ago, establishing himself as a key figure in the team before assuming the captaincy on an interim basis three years ago at AFCON 2021.
According to IFFHS, the Harlem-born holds the record for most goals by a defender at AFCON with five, including three in a single tournament. His performances have earned him a nomination for the CAF Men’s Player of the Year award after winning the Best Player award at AFCON 2023.
The Super Eagles captain has also spoken ahead of the Thursday’s 2025 AFCON qualifier against Benin Republic in Ivory Coast.
He dismissed concerns about complacency despite Nigeria needing just a point to qualify for the tournament in Morocco.
“The match is not going to be an easy one because the Beninoise are also chasing a ticket to the final tournament. However, our objective is clear: three points on the night,” he stated.
