Super Eagles’ captain, William Troost-Ekong has declared that all players in the Nigerian national team are now ready to give ‘maximum’ effort on Thursday, following a resolution of their tussle with the country’s football federation over bonuses allegedly owed the team.
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Sports247 reports that the players were back in training on Wednesday evening, after top shots of the National Sports Commission (NSC) intervened in the face-off and paid up what Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) had allegedly been owing the players.
Aside outstanding dues that the players alleged had been unpaid since 2019, they also demanded ‘special bonus’ for each match they will play at the World Cup qualification play-offs, starting with Thursday’s clash against Gabon in Rabat, Morocco.
Should the Eagles defeat Gabon in Thursday’s game (starting at 5pm Nigeria time), they will move on to Sunday’s final, ahead of which they will await the winner of Friday’s second semi-final between Cameroon and DR Congo.
The players have now apparently been settled and Ekong assured that they are focused on the mission ahead, with high hopes of reaching the intercontinental stage of the World Cup play-offs billed for Mexico in March 2026.
Nigerian football fans will now look on eagerly with expectations of victory over Gabon, after Ekong took to social media to disclose that all contentious issues had been resolved with the NFF.
The Al-Kholood of Saudi Arabia defender added in a post on x; “
“Issue resolved. Outstanding financials cleared and on ground. Team is United and focused as before on representing Nigeria with our maximum for the games ahead!”
