The rock-solid central defender was deservedly named Most Valuable Player of the 2023 AFCON as the Super Eagles defied the formbooks to reach the final of the biennial tournament.
Captain, Leader, Player of the tournament. 🫡
William Troost-Ekong, the first defender to score 3 goals in a single #TotalEnergiesAFCON campaign. ⚽️🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/ikXPgmz1ZS
— CAF (@CAF_Online) March 6, 2024
He played through the pain of a thigh injury to finish as the Super Eagles joint leading scorer at the AFCON with three goals as well as the solid pillar as Nigeria put up a defensive master class at the tournament.
The 30-year-old defender himself admitted that this was to be his last AFCON, but he has now been re-energised to aim for Nigeria to win the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
Besides his individual performance, he was the leader on the pitch, pushing and pulling the team together to ho beyond most expectations in Cote d’Ivoire.
Ekong made his Super Eagles debut in June 2015 and has since won 71 caps and scored seven goals.
He has now set a double target of the Super Eagles winning the next AFCON and qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
“To win the 2025 AFCON and qualify for the 2026 World Cup are now the targets,” he declared.
“We can do better in Morocco (2025 AFCON)than we did in Abidjan (2023 AFCON).
“At the last AFCON, we got the right balance of experience in Ahmed Musa, Kenneth (Omeruo) and myself) along with younger players.
“(Victor) Osimhen and Wilfred Ndidi can carry the team forward.
“The talent in Nigeria is endless, we now have many more players who can step in, players like Victor Boniface, Nathan Tella and other players have their international career ahead of them.
“We have not touched the ceiling yet, we will be ready for the next AFCON.”
He added: “Personally, I have the experience and physically I feel good and I am more motivated than ever before to be part of history, to be among the other greats of this country.
“For a defender, I am in the best years of my career.
“I want to win an AFCON in my time. That will be my thank you to Nigeria for the opportunities it has given me.”
This season, he also made history as his club PAOK won the league in Greece.
He played 10 matches for PAOK to win their fourth championship after their last conquest in the 2018/19 season.
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