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Super Eagles Captain, Troost-Ekong Retires At 36

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja 
  William Troost-Ekong 

Super Eagles Captain William Troost-Ekong has retired from international football at 36, after a decade of career with the Nigeria National team.

This implies that he will no longer play for the National team nor participate in any international tournament. 

Troost-Ekong announced his retirement via his official Instagram page on Thursday. 
He expressed gratitude for the opportunity to represent Nigeria, describing his journey as a honourable run. 

The emotion-laden statement read: "Honoured. Grateful. Forever a Super Eagle. Playing for Nigeria has been the greatest privilege of my life.

"The journey may end here, but my support never will. Here’s to the next chapter."

Also, prominent football journalist, Fabrizio Romano revealed the development on his official X handle on Thursday.

“William Troost-Ekong has decided to retire from international football and won’t play for Nigeria again. After 83 caps, 3 medals and playing in 5 major tournaments, Troost-Ekong says goodbye to the Super Eagles,” Romano wrote on X.

Troost-Ekong, who currently plays for Al-Kholood in the Saudi Pro League, was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Nigerian father.

After representing the Netherlands at the youth level, he committed his senior international future to Nigeria and made his debut on June 13, 2015, in an African Cup of Nation qualifying match against Chad.

His tally of five goals at the AFCON remains the highest scored by a defender in the history of the competition and will now stand as an unbroken record following his decision to step away from the team.

The defender scored eight goals in 83 appearances, with his final outing coming as a late substitute against Gabon on November 13.

His reduced role in recent months came as he dropped down the pecking order behind Benjamin Fredrick in Chelle’s defensive plans.

Troost-Ekong was included in Nigeria’s provisional 54-man squad for the forthcoming AFCON in Morocco in December, and the final list is expected to be trimmed to 28 players.

The squad is due to begin camp in Egypt on December 10 ahead of the tournament’s start on December 21.

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