William Troost-Ekong is one of the Super Eagles’ new breed. Born in Holland to a Nigerian father, the Haugesund of Norway captain was convinced to pick the Super Eagles ahead of The Netherlands Oranje. He tells ANTONY UBONG in Uyo of his experience with Nigeria so far.
HOW did you decide to play for Nigeria?
It is a short story but quite memorable. I had a call in March 2014 from an anonymous football agent who asked me to keep a date with the late Nigerian coach, Stephen Keshi at a train station in Madrid, Spain.
It was a strange call and looked quite unbelievable because the caller did not disclose his name and I did not even know how he got my phone number. However, I know this happens in football. You get a call about something about to happen and the next thing is to tell the caller to liaise with your advisors.
Did you really keep the date with Keshi?
I did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be where I am now. May God bless that day.
Tell us your encounter with Keshi
He was quite exciting. He thanked me for calling and told me the man who called was doing that on his behalf. He told me he needed a defender who could play the game the way he wanted and that somebody who had seen me a couple of times suggested my name to him.
He asked me what my immediate plans were and I told him I was grateful to him for finding me worthy but that I was only an age grade international footballer. I had played for the Dutch U17 and U-20 national teams and that I would like to continue my education with the Dutch senior team. Keshi said he would cap me immediately for Nigeria if I could fight hard to make the Nigerian team. He asked me to take a stroll around the Madrid Park for 15 minutes and give him my decision as he was about to connect a flight to the United States. I returned to him after 12 minutes but I could not make up my mind immediately. We parted and I wished him all the best but we exchanged phone number.
Two days after, I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw a half Dutch, half Nigerian and I knew any decision I took would be crucial to my career. When I was a kid, I watched a lot of tapes of Nigerian teams and players and was carried away by the likes of Nwankwo Kanu and Jay Jay Okocha, but I was too far from the environment. In the end I opted for Nigeria.
In other words, Keshi was instrumental in your decision to play for Nigeria
In a big way. It is so unfortunate he is no longer with us. May God rest his soul in paradise. I have heard many other stories of how I came to join the Eagles, they are all credible because I later discovered that many other steps unknown to me were taken to ensure I chose Nigeria. Here I am with Nigeria, I have no regrets at all. In fact, I’m blessed by choosing Nigeria. I have an Olympics bronze medal even before I turned 23. Nigeria has opened door for me.
In your short career with Nigeria, you have a lot of experiences with coaches in the national team. Tell us how find them?
I must tell you Nigeria is blessed with a lot of seasoned coaches. I am surprised the way they understand the game. When I joined the team, Keshi made me to play in a different way from what I was used to. For instance, it was from him that I learnt how to use the muscles of the eyes in such a way that you will have a broader view of the pitch. Keshi also taught me how to take a safe position defensively as soon as your team loses the ball; things I never knew before. By the time Sunday Oliseh took over, I was already seeing myself as an international but he took me to another level by his sound analysis of the strength of a team as an advantage over individualism. He took the entire team through series of integrating and exhilarating sessions. Under him, the national team is a place to be. Samson Siasia is something else. He is so experienced that even if you are ill, his team talk is capable of firing you up. He leaves most of the job to his backroom staff but co-ordinates when things are hard at the high level.
You were with the Nigerian team at the Rio Olympics. A lot of unbelievable stories came out from your camp. How did the team manage to concentrate?
It was very hard but personally, I felt this was a path I had to tread if I wanted to be a successful footballer of Nigeria. There were things I could not explain that happened but I was a fresher in Nigerian service so I had to stay focused. Fortunately, we had strong characters like Mikel Obi and Samson Siasia who were pillars of strength to the team. Thank heavens, we had bronze to show.
In the Nigerian team, who is your best friend?
I am very close to everybody I met either in the Super Eagles or in the Olympics team. I was impressed with the friendliness in the Nigerian camp. At the Super Eagles, I was very close to Ambrose Efe and Oghenekaro Etebo but when I got to the Olympics team, I also met fantastic people like Sadiq Umar and Imoh Ezekiel. I continue to make friends and more friends. For now, I can’t name one as the best. I keep on seeing new faces who are worthy of being kept as friends.
Now that you have chosen Nigeria, what do you hope to achieve with the Eagles
I am aware of the difficulty in qualifying for the World Cup from the African zone because the tickets are just five but with big stars like Mikel Obi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Oghene Etebo, the Eagles can be counted as favourites for the World Cup. To reach the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia in the group we are will demand a lot from us. Like I said, the Eagles are friends and that is very essential as we pursue a ticket to Russia.
