William Troost-Ekong, a Super Eagles defender, has recounted how he cried and how his mother felt after being informed by Tottenham’s former youth coach Matt de that he would never make it as a footballer.
Ekong, who is scheduled to start for the Super Eagles against Cape Verde in today’s 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, told Femi Ilesanmi, James Alabi, and Doe E on Baller Talk that the news shocked his mother.
The Watford defender claims that the coach’s insults aided him in becoming the player he is today.
“I felt like crying and I remember seeing my mom , my mom was upset, I’ve never seen her like that because she backed me against my dad’s will to sign for Spurs at the time.
“I came to England originally to go to school, I went to boarding school which is thoughtful, so was already like a big deal that she did that for me, and then all of a sudden after one year, she’s hearing like this is not really working out so that was the biggest motivation.
“From that moment on, I was like Will you need to sort yourself out and that was the chip on my shoulder every time to be like I am going to show everyone, I’m going to show everyone.”
