The captain of the senior national team of Nigeria William Troost-Ekong has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a ruptured biceps femoris in his right leg picked up at the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Ekong led Nigeria all the way to the final game of the tournament, where they were beaten 1-2 by the host. Voted as the most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament, he scored three goals including the lone goal for Nigeria in the final defeat.
It has now emerged that he played the tournament through the pain barrier as he was injured as early as the Super Eagles second group game, where they defeated the host 1-0 courtesy of his penalty. He aggravated the injury by playing till the final game.
The captain was among the five players whom we reported played in the final game without being fully fit, the rest are Ola Aina, Ademola Lookman, Zaidu Sanusi (ruled out for the rest of the season) and Victor Osimhen.
His club PAOK will now be without him for the rest of the season putting a huge dent on their bid to win he league as they are placed second on the log, just one point behind leaders AEK Athens.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman