Captain of the Super Eagles, William Troost-Ekong, has said that the team is ready to play any opposition during the AFCON 2025 scheduled to hold in Morocco later in the year.
Ekong who was voted the “Most Valuable Player” of the last AFCON in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire strongly believes that the Super Eagles who are paired along with Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania in Group C of the AFCON 2025 will come out clean from the group.
The Al-Kholood centre-back scored two goals at the last AFCON tournament against the hosts Cote d’ Ivoire in the group stage and in the final match which Nigeria lost 1-2.
But the Netherlands-born defender is confident Nigeria have what it takes to go all the way in Morocco at the end of the year.
In his reaction to the Draw which held on Monday evening in Rabat, Ekong told NFF Tv that all the other teams in the group should be respected.
The AFCON 2025 draw is now over. It’s very exciting to see the new group. Tunisia, Uganda, and Tanzania are three teams that need to be respected. I think we have the experience now to know how to handle these situations.
“There’s no such thing as an easy game in Africa, and I stand by that, but I believe we have everything on our team to get out of this group, and this time, go all the way,” the former Watford defender told NFF Tv.
Additionally, Ekong admitted that the Nigerian team have learned from their bitter-sweet experience in Abidjan.
He backed the team to go for gold under new manager Eric Chelle.
“We learned so much last year from the AFCON in Abidjan and this time we’ll be more ready. We’ll be working hard all year to make sure everyone is fit and ready, and everyone is looking forward to getting going under the new coach. “It’s an exciting year ahead and I’m very happy with the AFCON draw,” the 31-year-old remarked.
Ekong will be preparing to lead Nigeria to a win when Eric Chelle makes his dugout debut in March during the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda away in Kigali and against Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
