William Troost-Ekong: I would have swapped AFCON MVP for trophy
Super Eagles captain and recipient of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of last month’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, William Troost-Ekong said he would have swapped the individual award for the gold medalist and AFCON trophy.
Only six months ago, the Super Eagles skipper had been considering walking away from international football entirely following disagreements with coach José Peseiro. Charged with rallying a team left reeling from the disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Troost-Ekong was concerned with how he was being treated by the Portuguese manager.
“[It] resulted in us not actually speaking for a few months. That was the time where my pride and ego, I think maybe got the better of me. I thought about stopping. Thankfully, I’ve got a good group of people around me who talk me out of it,” the defender told CNN World Sport’s Amanda Davies in a recent interview.
That is history now considering Troost-Ekong led a Nigerian side that was not given any opportunity to do well to the final of the Africa’s football showpiece.
His exploits at the competition become even more remarkable when you learn he played most of the tournament with a hamstring injury which has subsequently pretty much ended his season.
He said: “I had a torn bicep femoris, which is basically the outside part of the hamstring. It happened during the tournament and I think I had a small tear initially in the second group stage game against Ivory Coast. I managed to play on and then after the final I had another MRI, and we realised it was really ruptured.
“It was very sore playing with it, and I couldn’t really train after the second group game. I was just trying ice to keep the swelling down. I might do half an hour of training the day before each game, and then during the game a combination of painkillers and adrenaline mean you can get through it. The day after each game it was definitely showing as I was struggling to walk.”
The 30-year-old endured the pains to lead Nigeria to the final constantly stepping up to score from the spot.
“But thankfully now I’m sorted. I went to Finland to have surgery with Dr Lasse Lampainen who is one of the best in the world and has operated on quite a few Watford players in the past.
“I should be back and fit again in May, but I think it’s probably season over. You never know how rehab will go but I don’t want to rush it because at my tender age of 30 you have to be smart about these injuries.
“I want to be 100% for next season, 100% right. If I can play at the end this season that’s great, if not then I will be ready for next season.”
AFCON FINAL
To get to the final and take the lead meant Troost-Ekong and his teammates were so close to glory. In-fact, he put Super Eagles in front with a powerful header before the host replied with two to lift the trophy.
“It was bitter-sweet in the end,” he admits.
“When you get so close all you want to do is win it, and I think the way the tournament played out with some of the more fancied nations got eliminated it just seemed like everything was working for us.
“To lose in the final is hard, but being really honest Ivory Coast were better than us on the day.
“But I brought home Player of the Tournament which is something special and something I wasn’t expecting at all.
“I still would have swapped it for a winner’s medal though.”
Losing to the hosts in their own stadium is some mitigation for not quite going all the way.
“I think it would have been a very different final if the tournament wasn’t in the Ivory Coast,” he said.
“They finished third in our group and qualified as one of the best third-placed teams, then they sacked their manager, and got through the next round with a last-minute goal.
“So many times during the tournament they had their backs against the wall that when they got to the final it felt like they thought they had nothing to lose.
“The whole stadium at the final was literally Ivory Coast. It was hard to spot any Nigerians in the stadium so it was like a real away game.
“It was hostile for us that day, and if it had been anywhere else I think we’d have had a better chance.”
TAKING PENALTY
One thing AFCON did reveal was Troost-Ekong is a very impressive and successful penalty taker.
He scored the winner from the spot when Nigeria beat Ivory Coast 1-0 in their group game, then again against South Africa in the semi-final and also again in the shoot-out at the end of that game to secure a place in the final.
“I always enjoyed taking penalties and after training I always used to take them, but it’s hard to convince a manager to let you have a go when there’s strikers on the pitch.
“I understand that: scoring goals is their speciality and also sometimes it can help their confidence if they haven’t scored for a while.
“It just sort of happened by accident for Nigeria. I’d put my name forward several times and the manager was happy with how I’d been taking them in training.
“Two years ago we played Ghana in a World Cup qualifier, and it was a crucial moment in that game. I was captain and I remember Victor Osimhen giving me the ball, and I scored that one.
“Since then everyone sort of trusted me for the big moments, and the same thing happened in this tournament.
“I’ve never taken one in a club games. I have spoken to managers about it many times but I’ve never been given the chance.
“When I scored at AFCON the manager of my team in Greece, PAOK, text me saying I’d convinced him now!
“When I was playing at Watford we had penalty takers like Ismaila Sarr and managers wanted him to score goals and get confidence.
“To be honest, I don’t care if it’s me or someone else scoring them – but I do know if I take one and put my foot through it then there aren’t going to be many goalkeepers who save it!”
WATFORD
Troost-Ekong is strongly connected to his country, and such love and commitment have pitted him against club-at least one-Watford.
“It was during the pandemic so the grounds were empty, except for some games halfway through when they let a small number of fans in.
“We got promoted and it was my best season at Watford.
He played 33 times that season, but then only made 18 outings in the following campaign.
“The second season I had at the club wasn’t great,” he said, with the tone of his voice clearly suggesting some irony.
“It was my worst season in my career which was a real shame because it was what I had worked for the hardest. It was always my dream to play in the Premier League.
“We started off great on the first day against Aston Villa, we did pick up points and there were some good moments.
“But thing started going wrong around November and I had a horrible game against Leicester when I let the ball bounce and it led to a goal.
“Then away at Brentford I got crucified – I thought I played well throughout the game and then in the last minute I gave the ball away trying to pass it out to the side.
“Because I gave the ball away I was so intent on trying to win it back that I made a slide tackle in the box that was rash and silly. They scored the penalty and we ended up losing 2-1.”
However, Troost-Ekong started at Vicarage Road when Watford lost 1-0 at home to Spurs, before he went to join up with his Nigerian teammates ahead of the delayed 2021 AFCON finals.
That’s when, in his own words, “things started to go wrong” for the defender.
“In the January I flew out to represent Nigeria at AFCON, and when I was at the airport waiting to take off I got a phonecall from Cristiano Giaretta, who told me if I did leave to go to AFCON then Watford were going to sell me,” he recalled.
“He said they already had a club lined up to buy me. I was pretty shocked by that.
“They had said everything was fine with me going to AFCON, but there had been all the big drama because Emmanuel Dennis decided not to go but I did.
“I was captain of Nigeria at the time and I wanted to go and represent my country.
“It was a night flight to Nigeria so it must have been around 10pm when Cristiano called me, and said they had an offer from Trabzonspor in Turkey.
“They had listed me on a website called TransferRoom, which is what all the clubs use.
“He said he wanted me to make a decision on going to Trabzonspor, and I said I was very happy at Watford, thanks.
“I knew things weren’t going great but I believed I could fight my way back into the team.
“I came back from AFCON and I spent the rest of the season out of the squad. I came on for the last ten minutes of the game at Crystal Palace where we lost 1-0 and got relegated.
“Basically I think I was frozen out because I went to AFCON.
“I came back for the new season and had already made up my mind that I wanted to leave because of the experiences I’d had the season before.
“Rob Edwards came in and I had a good first meeting with him, but I said I wanted to leave and at that time I had several options.
“The club said you’re absolutely not leaving, but I didn’t play much at all. On the last day of August I got a phone call from the club saying that if I got something good then I could go.
“That wasn’t much use as it was the last day of the transfer window. It just infuriated me even more. All the clubs that had been interested had signed other players by then.
“Then Rob put me in for my first start at home to Sunderland, and we drew 2-2 and I thought I played really well.
“I remember Rob and his assistant Richie Kyle saying if they knew I could play like that then they would have played me sooner. I think they then got sacked the next week.”
FUTURE
Troost-Ekong’s future is similarly open-ended. In a club career that has taken him from Holland through Belgium, Turkey, Italy and the English Premier League with Watford, he is enjoying his football at Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki, but refused to rule out another change of scenery eventually.
“I can’t reiterate enough how happy I am here at PAOK, but you never know in football … you might get tempted by something bigger and better,” he admitted.
“I think at my age of 30, you have to think about all your options. It will be something that I definitely consider,” he added.
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