Super Eagles’ captain, William Troost-Ekong has parried talk about a possible loss in their last match of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, as he says they want to remain unbeaten in the race to Morocco 2025.
Sports247.ng reports that the vastly improved centre back, who had a decent game in Thursday’s 1-1 draw away to Benin Republic, stressed that the Eagles want to retain their pedigree beyond Monday’s clash with Rwanda.
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The Eagles have nothing to play for, having even qualified for the 2025 AFCON before entering Thursday’s clash with The Cheetahs.
Ekong disclosed that they were already aware of their success, after Rwanda lost 1-1 at home against Libya few minutes before Nigeria romped from a goal down to force a late equaliser against Benin Republic in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
“I want to congratulate our coach for qualifying for the AFCON. That was our objective.
“Four, five months ago, when we started this campaign, we wanted to qualify.
“We then heard we had achieved it just before the kick-off, but we still wanted to win this game,” said the skpper during Thursday’s post-match press conference.
The match was played on neutral ground in Abidjan because Benin does not have a pitch to host international matches, but The Cheetahs almost took maximum points, as they led from the 16th minute and the Eagles only managed to pull level through Victor Osimhen’s 81st minute header.
It means Nigeria will top the group heading into the next AFCON, regardless of their result against Rwanda, who need maximum points from Monday’s last fixture in order to topple second placed Benin.
Heading into the last round of matches, Benin has six points, Rwanda five and Libya four, which means all three can still qualify … if they win their respective games on Monday.
Should Rwanda beat Nigeria, they would qualify if Benin lose away to Libya in the day’s simultaneous fixture, but Ekong has ruled out any chance of his side fumbling at home in The Nest of Champions.
“We don’t want to do what is not worthy of Nigeria. That’s why we did not want to lose against Benin.
“They had a good game plan, but we were a little bit unlucky from the moment they scored, because we kept missing at the front post.
“Credit to them. We know they are a good team, and they tried to win the game. That’s why I think 1-1 was a fair result,” Ekong reasoned.
He concluded by affirming his determination that the Eagles will not lose their last match of the race, though they have already qualified for the next continental football showpiece scheduled to run from December 2025 to January 2026 in Morocco.
“I am happy that we qualified, and we still want to remain Unbeaten in this campaign,” said the AFCON 2023 most valuable player, who starred across the last two sessons for PAOK Saloniki of Greece and Udinese of Italy.
