Only six months ago, the Super Eagles skipper had been considering walking away from international football entirely following disagreements with coach José Peseiro. “[It] resulted in us not actually speaking for a few months,” the defender told CNN World Sport’s Amanda Davies in a recent interview. Captain William Troost-Ekong (center, number 5) celebrates after scoring a penalty during Nigeria's AFCON semi-final match against South Africa on February 7, 2024. After dispatching a penalty in regular time, Troost-Ekong made no mistake during the subsequent shoot-out to help send his side into the final in Abidjan. Once again, it was a lead that came courtesy of a Troost-Ekong goal; this time from a powerful header.

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Persons: William Troost, José Peseiro, Ekong, Amanda Davies, I’ve, ”, “, AFCON, –, Issouf Sanogo, Sebastian Haller, Les Éléphants, Peseiro Organizations: CNN, Africa, of Nations, Super Eagles, The, Eagles, Equatorial, Guinea Bissau, South, Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara, Nigerian Football Federation, English Premier League, Watford, Greek, PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Locations: Qatar, Portuguese, Dutch, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, AFP, Cameroon, Angola, Abidjan, “, Holland, Belgium, Turkey, Italy