Super Eagles captain Troost-Ekong fires warning at Zimbabwe ahead of Uyo clash

Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has sent a stern message to Zimbabwe ahead of their meeting at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on Tuesday, March 25, Footynaija.com reports.

Both teams will enter the game in desperate need of maximum points as their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup hang in the balance.

Nigeria managed to breathe some life back into their qualification quest with a comfortable 2-0 win over Rwanda on Friday while Zimbabwe’s struggles continued following a 2-2 draw with Benin Republic.

Speaking at the Kigali international airport before the Super Eagles’ departure for Uyo, Troost-Ekong revealed that Nigeria’s win over the Amavubi was a statement of intent before warning the Warriors to abandon any thoughts of getting a result in Uyo.

“It was important to make the statement that we did, and we’re all happy about it, and the way we did it,” the Al Kholood defender told nff.com.

“Of course, we have not qualified and there’s still a lot of work, but we have started the recovery in a good way and we just have to keep working hard.

“I don’t want to go into the circumstances that made the first four matches go the way they went. The good thing is we can still recover and revive the campaign, and we have done that.

“We read somewhere that the Zimbabweans are being motivated to come to Uyo and get a result. They should forget it. We are hugely motivated by the ambition to play at the FIFA World Cup.

“Apart from myself and Alex (Iwobi) and perhaps a couple others, who were part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, this generation is hungry to play at the highest level. We want to make Nigeria proud and at the same time, do ourselves proud.”