Ekong Explains How NFF Stopped Him From Retiring Before AFCON After Rift With Peseiro
- William Troost-Ekong was almost excluded from the Super Eagles squad that went to AFCON 2023 in Ivory Coast
- The captain fell out with manager Jose Peseiro and was close to announcing his retirement from the team
- Ekong bounced back and put up a great performance, winning the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award
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Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has opened up about how he almost retired before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations after a fallout with head coach Jose Peseiro.
Nigeria put up disciplined defensive performances to reach the final of AFCON 2023 which they unfortunately lost 2-1 to host country Ivory Coast.
Source: AFP
However, one of the architects of the defensive masterclass and the entire tournament almost missed out on being on the plane due to a misunderstanding with the coach.
Ekong explains fallout with Peseiro
Ekong, one of Nigeria's most trusted players since he switched his international allegiance from the Netherlands in 2016, has detailed his fallout with Peseiro on the Fozcast Podcast.
“I had fallen out with the coach earlier,” he opened up. “He didn't call me for the last three camps before the tournament.”
Ekong confirmed he had attempted to skip a game he felt was unimportant as he was recovering from an injury and also wanted to witness the birth of his third child, but the coach was not having it.
“I called the coach, I would come to play, obviously it's a big honour, but if I'm not going to play just let me know because I would prefer to stay home, I haven't seen my family. He said ‘you need to be here,’ but sat me on the bench for two games. I had absolutely head loss,” he said.
The incident escalated in September when the captain asked to come on for the 10-0 win over Sao Tome and Principe after Nigeria had scored six goals, but he refused, which led to a confrontation.
“He didn't do that again so I got to a point, ‘have you got a problem I don't really understand’. I don't think he really liked that I confronted him. Then I got to a point where I thought I might actually stop playing international football.”
The Harlem-born defender claimed he had written his resignation letter and wanted to submit it a month before the AFCON squad list was out, but the Nigerian Football Federation stopped him, asking him to hold on for a while.
The next thing that happened was Peseiro calling him to resume training camp in Abu Dhabi. He claimed he didn't make a big deal out of it even though the Portuguese failed to apologise to him.
As noted by CAF Online, Ekong was named the MVP after helping Nigeria to the final with three goals and was included in the team of the tournament.
Peseiro left the role at the end of the tournament at the expiration of his contract, and since his departure, Eric Chelle is the third manager of the Super Eagles.
Why Ekong chose Nigeria
Legit.ng previously reported on Ekong explaining why he chose Nigeria over the Netherlands when he wanted to make the decision over his international future.
The former Dutch youth star has no regret after choosing Nigeria, having played at major tournaments, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup and is the current captain.
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Source: Legit.ng
