Captain of the Super Eagles, William Troost-Ekong, has sent a strong message to the remaining African teams ahead of the AFCON 2025 tournament, Soccernet.ng reports.
The Al-Kholood centre-back was given the MVP award at the AFCON 2023 tournament in Ivory Coast after he helped Nigeria to a place in the final, playing six of the seven games with a injured hamstring.
Nigeria has been drawn into the Group C of the AFCON 2025 tournament alongside Uganda, Tanzania and Tunisia, and the Netherlands-born defender is confident the Super Eagles have what it takes to go all the way in Morocco at the end of the year.
“The AFCON 2025 draw is now over. It’s very exciting to see the new group. Tunisia Uganda, 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 Tottenham Hotspur defender told NFF Media.
William Troost-Ekong with the Greek Super League trophy. [Photo Credit/ Imago].
Additionally, Ekong admitted the Nigerian team have learned from their bitter-sweet experience in Ivory Coast. He backed the team to go for gold under 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 concluded.