Troost-Ekong Biography
Troost-Ekong was born into a family that was a mix of Dutch and Nigerian, he could play for both countries on the world level. Since then, he has won more than 70 caps for Nigeria.
Club Career
His first game for them was in 2015. Troost-Ekong went to Hockerill Anglo-European College in Bishop’s Stortford, England, for high school. As a kid, he played football for Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur in England. As a teen, he played for FC Groningen and FC Dordrecht in the Netherlands.
After being linked with moves to Celtic and other clubs, he signed with Belgian club KAA Gent in July 2015 and was sent on loan to Norwegian club FK Haugesund right away. In July 2017, Troost-Ekong signed with Bursaspor, a Greek Süper Lig team.
As of August 17, 2018, Troost-Ekong joined Udinese, an Italian club in Serie A.Seventh: In his first season in Serie A, he played 35 games and got booked four times, helping Udinese finish 12th.
Udinese came in 13th place the next year, but they had two more points. Even though the team didn’t have a great league season, Troost-Ekong started and played all 90 minutes in famous wins over AC Milan and Juventus during his two seasons at Le Zebrette.
On September 29, 2020, Troost-Ekong signed a five-year deal to play for Watford in the EFL Championship. In a 3–2 win over Coventry City on November 7, 2020, he scored his first goal for the team.
Troost-Ekong joined Salernitana on loan on January 24, 2023, with the chance to buy at the end of the season. He joined the Greek club PAOK on July 4, 2023, for free, and signed a long-term deal. At the end of August 2024, Troost-Ekong joined the club Al-Kholood in Saudi Arabia.
International Career
In 2015, Troost-Ekong trained with Nigeria. Their name is Eleanore Troost and they were born in the Netherlands. Her mother is Dutch and her father is Nigerian. The names of his brothers are Emily and Everest.
Even though Troost-Ekong played for the Netherlands when he was 19 and 20, he decided to play for Nigeria instead. He first played for the Super Eagles against Chad in an AFCON qualifying match on June 13, 2015, and played all 90 minutes.
In 2016, he started three games for the senior team before being picked for Nigeria’s under-23 team, which was one of 35 players that were temporarily put together for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. He was picked to play for Nigeria in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia in June 2018.
Troost-Ekong was picked for the 23-person team that Ghana sent to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. He scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute against South Africa, which sent his team to the semi-finals and helped them finish third.
READ ALSO: Calvin Bassey Biography: Age, Football Statistics and Career
He was captain of the Super Eagles in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, which was delayed, and scored against Guinea-Bissau, which earned him a spot in the Technical Study Group’s Best XI of the Group Stage.
Tunisia beat Nigeria in the next round and eliminated them from the tournament. In the third round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, he scored a penalty in the second leg match against Ghana.
The game ended in a 1–1 draw, but his country did not make it to the main event in Qatar because of the away goals rule. Troost-Ekong was added to the 25-person team for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast on December 29, 2023.
He made a spot kick that helped his team beat Ivory Coast 1-0 in the second group stage game. In the semi-final game against South Africa, he scored another penalty to put his team ahead in a 1–1 tie. He then scored in the shootouts, which led to a 4–2 win.
In the final game, which they lost 2–1, he scored the first goal against Ivory Coast. Still, he was able to win the Player of the Tournament award. He got five goals at the AFCON, which is the most goals ever scored by a defender at the AFCON.