William Troost-Ekong has announced his retirement from international football.
Troost-Ekong made the announcement in a post on his X handle on Thursday.
HONOURED. GRATEFUL. FOREVER A SUPER EAGLE,” Troost-Ekong wrote.
“Playing for Nigeria has been the greatest privilege of my life. The journey may end here, but my support never will.
“Here’s to the next chapter.”
After representing the Netherlands at under-19 and under-20 youth levels, Troost-Ekong eventually chose to represent Nigeria. He made his senior international debut for the Super Eagles on 13 June 2015, playing 90 minutes in an AFCON qualifying match against Chad.
He made three starts for the senior team in 2016 before being selected for Nigeria’s under-23 team in their 35-man provisional squad for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.In June 2018 he was named in Nigeria’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Troost-Ekong was named in the country’s 23-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, where he scored an 89th-minute winner against South Africa to send his team through to the semi-finals on the way to a third-place finish.
He captained the Super Eagles in the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations,and was named in the tournament Technical Study Group’s Best XI of the Group Stage,scoring against Guinea-Bissau.[20] Nigeria went on to be knocked out by Tunisia in the following round.
During the 2022 World Cup qualification third round, he scored a penalty in the second leg match against Ghana, which ended in a 1–1 draw and a defeat on the away goals rule; hence, his nation failed to reach the main tournament in Qatar.
On 29 December 2023, Troost-Ekong was named in the 25-man squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
He converted a penalty in a 1–0 win in the second group stage match against Ivory Coast.
In the semi-final match against South Africa, he scored another penalty to grant his team the lead in a 1–1 draw, before scoring during the shootouts which ended in a 4–2 win.
He later scored the first goal in the final match against Ivory Coast which ended in a 2–1 defeat.[26] Nonetheless, he managed to win the Player of the Tournament award.
His tally of five goals at the AFCON is the current record for the highest number of goals scored by a defender in the history of AFCON.
(Complete Sports)
