Super Eagles’ captain, William Troost Ekong has declared that he and his colleagues will pick a ticket to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations with two victories against Lybia in October.
Sports247.ng reports that Ekong and his pals will enter the double header top of their group’s table, following a 3-0 win over Benin Republic in Uyo and goalless draw away to Rwanda.
The former Udinese of Italy and PAOK Saloniki of Greece stopper said he is happy seeing the Eagles in pole position to qualify for Maroc 2025, but admitted they could have scored at least four goals in Kigali.
The vastly improved centre back, who was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Nigerian father, admitted that Tuesday’s game in Kigali was tough, hence his shower of encomiums to all the players on his side.
Ekong declared, “I’m proud of the team. It wasn’t an easy game. Playing this kind of game away is always harder than at home.
“Not the best conditions, the pitch, some of the decisions were questionable, but I think we put on a good performance.”
Ekong, though, reasoned further that the Eagles will have to improve their finishing mettle in front of goal, considering the avalanche of chances they missed at the recently refurbished Amahoro Stadium.
He added, “We created a lot of chances and, on a different day, we could have scored two, three, or four goals.
“I think we have to look at that objectively, and see how we make it positive. We leave here now with four points from the first two games, and I think we should be happy with that.”
The Eagles’ skipper, who was also part of Nigeria’s bronze medal winning under-23 squad to Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, also downplayed talk that the visitors were cowed by the mammoth crowd that gathered at Amahoro Stadium to support The Amavubi.
“We were happy to be in this place with the big crowd watching us. We have the experience of playing in front of a big crowd.
“We play in front of such crowds week in, week out. For me, that makes the game lively. I enjoy it, and it gives me energy.
“We tried to silence the crowd, and the moments when their fans were booing were when we were doing well; but we used that as motivation.
“The coaches of Rwanda set up their team well, and they had a great gameplan. They had a pleasant first half, and we had the second half.
“On a different day, we would have scored a few goals, and the result would have been different,” Ekong reiterated.
He then turned attention on the next two matches of the qualifiers and revealed how determined everyone in the team is to qualify with the double-header against Libya.
“We continue. We already said we want to qualify for the AFCON, and we are on course to doing that.
“Two positive results against Libya, away and home, we want to seal the deal.
“We’ll go into those games with more seriousness but, for now, we have to focus back on our club assignments.
“By October, I hope everyone will be fit, and the coach will have a new headache about who to select and bring in. We’ll be ready for the game against Lybia,” Ekong reassured.
