International Friendly: Reason We Lost To Ecuador - Ekong

International Friendly: Reason We Lost To Ecuador - Ekong

Sampson Adedeji

Super Eagles vice captain and Watford FC defender William Troost Ekong have explained the reason Nigeria lost to Ecuador in an international friendly, BSNsports.com.ng has gathered.

The South American country defeated Nigeria by a lone goal in the second friendly played in New Jersey in the early hours of Friday.

Ekong said they had a few training sessions before the game and they also respected their opponent too much.

He further hopes that the situation will be better when they face Sierra Leone in the 2023 African Cup of Nations qualifier.

"Ecuador gained momentum with that early goal. It was like a home game for them. The atmosphere was lively. 

"It was great to see a lot of Ecuadorian fans in the stadium. Nigerian fans were also there too.

“They started the game very well. Then we took control and played well in the second half as well.

“Ecuador also created some good chances and that was because we were a little impatient and tried to get the equaliser. It was a good performance for us and we deserved more than that the eventual result.

“Half time message that we have tried and pushed hard from our performance in the first half. In the 15 minutes of the first half, we tried to press a little higher.

“We took more risks by playing one-on-one. I think you see in the second half, they didn’t have much of the ball. They were not comfortable on the ball.

“Maybe we started the game by respecting them too much. We know they are a very good team. We played better in the second half.

“I thought it was was a good performance from the boys baring in mind we played under a new coach. We had like five, six training sessions since we got here,” Troost-Ekong told reporters after the game.

“It was an improvement from our performance against Mexico especially in the first half and against a strong Ecuadorian team. I don’t think we deserve to lose in the end.

“One thing we want to do with these games is to improve our performance and understand what the coach wants from us.”

"Of course, the most thing now is the two matches we play in Africa (AFCON 2023 qualifiers), things will be better when we play Sierra Leone next week," he said.