2026 World Cup Playoff: Troost-Ekong slams Troy Deeney and Michael Lahoud on ‘disrespectful comments’

Nigerian national team captain William Troost-Ekong, has called the comment from his former Watford teammate Troy Deeney and former Sierra Leone player Michael Lahoud disrespectful.

Deeney and Lahoud, publicly questioned the leadership of the Nigerian defender due to reports that the Super Eagles boycotted training ahead of their 2026 world cup qualifiers playoffs.

 

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Nigeria who however resumed training on Wednesday went on to defeat the Panthers of Gabon 4-1 in the playoff semifinal in Morocco on Thursday. Reacting after the match, Troost-Ekong called the statement by Lahoud uninformed and disrespected him.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

He went further to state that he was disappointed with Deeney’s comments as they have known each other since their time at Watford.

“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.”