Sports
Troost-Ekong Donates Salary For Football Dev
Super Eagles defender, William Troost-Ekong has become the 43rd member of Common Goal, donating one percent of his salary to high impact football-for-good organisations around the world.
Common Goal founder, disclosed in a statement that Troost-Ekong who currently plays for Bursaspor in Turkey, has now joined the likes of Manchester United’s Spain midfielder Juan Mata.
Tidesports source reports that Common Goal is a movement powered by players and managers
Already, 40 players and managers have allocated over 400,000 euros to football-for-good organisations in six months since it started with Mata.
Troost-Ekong’s entry has now made it that at least eight players will likely represent Common Goal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia this summer.
The 24-year-old Ekong has had a busy past few years, leading to his becoming a crucial part of the Nigeria national team.
They went on to win a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016, and he was nominated for the 2017 African Player of the Year award.
In the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification group stage, he played every match for the Super Eagles, and he captained the team in their 1-0 friendly victory against Poland on Friday.
“Winning the bronze medal for Nigeria at the 2016 Olympics and qualifying for the World Cup were both massive moments for me. However I’m hoping to outdo both of those this summer at the World Cup,” said Troost-Ekong.
Born in the Netherlands in 1993 to a Dutch mother and a Nigerian father, Troost-Ekong has already played in England, Holland, Belgium, Norway and Turkey.
He considers his commitment to Common Goal as a decisive career moment.
“I’m aware that I’m a role model for children and football fans, and having travelled the world I’ve seen the impact that we have on people’s lives. It’s our responsibility, as players, to use that in a positive way.”
Troost-Ekong’s commitment to Common Goal comes just as the movement prepares to invest funds generated by player pledges for the first time.
Next month will see 400,000 euros allocated to 27 football-for-good organisations tackling some of the toughest social issues of our time — ranging from HIV/AIDS to gender inequality and youth unemployment.
“We are delighted that Troost-Ekong is joining Common Goal. Not just because he is a fantastic player, but because he is a fantastic person. He and all of our players recognise the importance of aligning with a shared vision and using their status as footballers, to make the world a better place,” Griesbeck said.
Tidesports source reports that with new players from all levels of football joining the movement every week, Common Goal is racing towards the 100-player mark in 2018.
“In the coming weeks, Common Goal is set to announce how football fans, and other stakeholders in the game, from around the world can participate in the biggest movement in football,’’ Griesbeck added.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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