Udinese of Italy defender, William Troost-Ekong was excited on Tuesday, as he got a second chance of leading the Super Eagles out as captain, and ended up marking it with a 1-0 victory against Egypt.
Sports247.ng reports that the first time Troost-Ekong wore the Eagles’ slipper’s band from the start of any match was in a similar friendly at Adokie Amasiamaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, against DR Congo before the 2018 World Cup in France.
However, unlike it was that day, May 28, in The Garden City, when both sides settled for a 1-1 draw, Troost-Ekong was delighted to get victory as Eagles’ captain against the hosts of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
Troost-Ekong, who had also been handed the Eagles’ captain’s band during the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, when he took it over from Ahmed Musa during the home fixture against Libya, which Nigeria won 3-0 in Uyo, said Tuesday’s outing was better than others.
The former Haugesund of Norway, KAA Gent of Belgium and Bursaspor of Turkey stopper, who started out in the youth team of Tottenham Hotspur, said he was happy the Eagles put up a better performance on Tuesday than they did in Friday’s game against Seychelles.
Although the Eagles beat Seychelles 3-1 in their last match of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, many fans are of a view that the team did not show good rythm on the evening at Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, but Troost-Ekong admits they did better against Egypt.
The Holland-born star, who was part of Nigeria’s bronze medal-winning squad to Rio 2016 Olympics, added that Tuesday’s victory is a good sign of better things to come for Nigeria in the Cup of Nations in Egypt.
“I am happy to captain the Super Eagles again, and I am happy that we won. Victory against a team like Egypt is not easy, but we did it.
“We played better than we did against Seychelles; which means the team is making progress, and I believe we will improve right up to the Nations Cup,” Troost-Ekong submitted
