Super Eagles defender William Troost-Ekong has opened up on why he chose to represent Nigeria at the international level.

Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and Nigerian father, Troost-Ekong was eligible to feature for both the Super Eagles and the Oranje but opted for the former, making his debut in June 2015 against Chad.

According to the Al-Kholood defender, a phone conversation with the late Stephen Keshi convinced him to represent the three-time African champions.

Troost-Ekong had earlier represented the Netherlands at the U-20 and U-17 levels.

“I had the decision quite early in my career. I was 20 at the time, I had just finished my breakthrough season in the Netherlands, my first year of playing probably 30-plus games in the Eredivisie, which is the highest league in the Netherlands.

“And all of a sudden I got a phone call from Stephen Keshi, who was the coach at the time, ex-captain and ex-player, so I was quite blown away when he called me.

“Just at the start of the season, I had played for the Dutch U19 and U20 squads, but there was no real perspective yet for the first team.

“This was the only tangible option that I had. The choice was between trying to progress and later in my career maybe having a chance to play for the Netherlands or having a chance now to play for the Super Eagles, who were kind of going through a transition stage where a lot of their defenders at that time were a little bit older, so I knew that they wanted to make some changes there.

“And taking that opportunity, which then in turn would give me more perspective for my club, so I kind of made that decision thinking about all those things.”

Ekong, 31, has won 77 caps for Nigeria, scoring 7 goals. He was adjudged the best player at the 2023 African Cup of Nations in Cote d'Ivoire earlier this year.