AFCON Qualifier: Proud of the team, despite the result, says Troost-Ekong

Bold Sports
3 Min Read

Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong, has praised his team’s performance following their goalless draw against Rwanda in their second Group D Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Kigali on Tuesday.

Despite dominating possession and creating numerous chances, the Super Eagles were unable to secure a victory. However, the result was sufficient to maintain their top spot in the group on four points.

Reacting to the game, Troost-Ekong expressed his satisfaction with the team’s effort despite the result of the game. “I’m proud of the team, it wasn’t an easy game. To come away is harder than playing at home,” he told Pius Idoko.

Also read: ‘I’m still in charge!’ Eguavoen denies stepping down as Super Eagles coach

“Not the best conditions in terms of the pitch, and some of the referee’s decisions were questionable but I think we put in a good performance, created a lot of chances, and think on a different day we could have scored two, or three maybe four goals. We have to look at that objectively and say that was a positive. To come out with four points from the first two games I think we should be happy with that.”

AFCON Qualifier: Proud of the team, despite the result, says Troost-Ekong
Troost-Ekong in action against Benin

The captain dismissed the boos from the Rwandan fans, stating that the team is accustomed to playing in front of large and noisy crowds. He added that the negative reactions actually served as motivation for the players.

“I don’t think the boos from the fans mattered, we have experienced players that play in front of big crowds probably bigger than this crowd week in and week out. For me, having a lot of fans makes the game lively, it gives me a lot of energy and we were trying to silence the crowd. The moments they were booing were when we were doing well we used it as motivation. 

Troost-Ekong also acknowledged Rwanda’s strong performance “Aside from that, we also have to give props to Rwanda. I think they set up their team very well. They had a clear game plan. In the first half, they made it harder for us than in the second half and the only difference is that we if we had scored a few goals it could have been a different story.”

© Bold Media Innovations & Creative Hub Limited. All rights reserved. If sharing, kindly credit Bold Sports as the source and include a link to the original post. Unauthorised use is prohibited.

Share This Article
Leave a Comment
Open chat
1
Hello. Do you want to keep receiving our stories via WhatsApp/Telegram? Send us a message!