Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has opened up about his rift with coach Jose Peseiro, which almost cost him his place in the AFCON 2023 squad.
Recall that in Nigeria’s last AFCON 2023 qualifying match against Sao Tome and Principe in September, the tough-as-nails PAOK defender was benched. The centre-back was also completely left off the roster for the following month’s FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Lesotho and Zimbabwe national teams.
While speaking with CNN World Sport, Ekong said that the decision by Peseiro to omit him from playing those matches resulted in him not speaking with the coach for a few months.
According to Ekong, who has earned more than 70 caps for Nigeria, that was the time when his pride and ego got the better of him and he thought about quitting the national team.
“It resulted in us not actually speaking for a few months,” Troost-Ekong told CNN World Sport.
“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 took me out of it.
“It made me think about my younger self and, how much it meant and how proud I was to play my first game for Nigeria.
“I deserved to give my younger self a better ending. So that was the thing that changed my mind … I think my career has always been a testament of not giving up.”
