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William Troost-Ekong has explained the reason behind Victor Boniface’s introduction to the Super Eagles attack.
In a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying encounter, the Super Eagles fought to a 1-1 draw with Gernot Rohr's Benin.
Victor Osimhen rescued a point for the Super Eagles with a late equaliser after the introduction of Boniface.
The draw puts Nigeria in 11 points on the table and further secures qualification for the 2025 AFCON tournament in Morocco
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14:54 - 15.11.2024
‘They had a good game plan’ - Ekong hails Benin's performance, claims outcome was a fair result
William Troost-Ekong has praised Gernot Rohr's Benin Republic for their performance against Nigeria yesterday night.
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10:18 - 15.11.2024
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Ekong speaks about Boniface
Troost-Ekong has emphasised that Boniface can breach defences, giving Osimhen greater room to penetrate.
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Troost-Ekong told reporters in Abidjan, "There were some changes, the coach saw it well at halftime, we changed formation slightly.
"Later in the game, Benin started to go deeper and deeper, defending with maybe four, five, six players in the backline so we needed another player to create the space for Osimhen.
"And of course Boniface is the kind of player that comes with the ball, tries to draw out the defender, and it worked well.
"We have so many different ways that we can play, we have so many different players that have different qualities.
"Sometimes, trying to find the right piece to make it work and today I think in the end we did it and if we played a bit longer, maybe we could have scored another goal.
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"They work well together, and there is great respect within the team. Both of them want to play and score, and everyone on the pitch is trying to complement each other".
Troost-Ekong stated that Eguavoen had to alter his lineup in the second half with Boniface coming in for Alex Iwobi in the 72nd minute.
After a brilliant delivery from super-sub Moses Simon in the 81st minute, Osimhen scored his 23rd goal for his nation in his 38th appearance.
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