William Troost Ekong, the stand-in captain of the Super Eagles at the last Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire, has revealed the reason he can’t play with pains for his Greek club PAOK Salonika, even though he donned the colours of Nigeria, enduring pains throughout the Super Eagles race to the final where they lost to the host.
Ekong sustained the injury during the Super Eagles’ second group match against Ivory Coast.
He played all the games for Nigeria, scoring three goals and he was named the Most Valuable Player of the competition.
“As many know, I got injured during AFCON. Disappointingly, this injury has turned out to be more serious than first thought
“I have always given everything and pushed myself. Every player has played with pain at some point in their career to fight for a club or country. It’s part of the game.
“I managed to continue in the knockout stages, and I was willing to continue to do the same now to help PAOK push for the prizes in the league and Europe too. But after more assessments and consultations it was the best decision long-term to undergo surgery now.
“My full focus is on getting back better than ever before”, he said.
