Nigerian defender, William Troost-Ekong, has responded to the criticism he received from former teammate at Watford, Troy Deeney.
NEWSUNPLUG reported that Deeney and former Sierra Leone star, Michael Lahoud, publicly questioned the leadership of the Super Eagles defender ahead of Nigeria’s 4-1 victory over Gabon.
Nigeria beat Gabon 4-1 in the 2026 FIFA World Cup playoff semifinal in Morocco on Thursday.
Troost-Ekong came off the bench to help Nigeria to a convincing win against Gabon and book a place in Sunday’s playoff final against DR Congo.
Speaking in a video posted by Victor Modo, Troost-Ekong said that Lahoud is uninformed and has disrespected him.
He said to reporters, “I thought it was very disrespectful. I had to Google what he was talking about me, and I think that if he had done his research about me, maybe he would have come out with a different explanation.
“We have multiple leaders in this team. Victor Osimhen is a leader in his own right, and we also have Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi, and Moses Simon.
“We have players who are really coming of age and showing what they can do. I don’t think you can just wipe something away because someone is on the bench; I’ve got 83 caps for Nigeria.
“And also for my teammate [Troy Deeney], I was slightly disappointed because I supported him when he was the captain of my team at Watford.
“I’ve also gone on to captain Watford. So again, you could have just picked up the phone and called me.
“If he didn’t respect me, then maybe we should take away the Nigeria shirt that I gave him.”