Osimhen only real leader, Ekong hasn't stepped up — Super Eagles leadership slammed following boycott row

William Troost-Ekong’s leadership has been called into question by former Sierra Leone midfielder Michael Lahoud, who opined that the Super Eagles captain has not stepped up at a time of need. 

The Super Eagles have to go through the playoff route to qualify for the World Cup, having failed to win Group C of the CAF qualifiers, which would have guaranteed automatic qualification. 

The playoffs begin tomorrow — semi-finals against Gabon and a possible final against Cameroon or DR Congo — and the Super Eagles have only trained today.

The squad, led by their captain, Troost Ekong, boycotted training yesterday in protest of unpaid bonuses by the club's football administrators (the Ibrahim Gusau-led NFF). 

Ekong updated fans via social media on the strike while it was ongoing and announced its end using the platform. The crisis has become a global football story, and in the recent episode of CBS Golazo, the boycott was discussed. 

Lahoud, who notched four caps for the West African nation, Sierra Leone, was on the panel of analysts when he criticised Ekong's leadership and charged Victor Osimhen to step up as the only true leader on the roster.

“This team needs to be unified. They've played like a team of individuals, but this is a team of divas,” Lahoud said. “You need to have serious leadership, and the only leader in Nigeria right now is Victor Osimhen.

“William Troost-Ekong hasn't stepped up as a leader. He's a social media leader. He's tweeted things. The biggest thing he's done in terms of leadership was when they had the debacle in Libya when they were left at the airport.

“He did the press conferences, but on the field, he's done zero talking. He hasn't led from the back, so at the end of the day, Nigeria needs to do the talking on the pitch.

“When it comes to the World Cup, you need as much time on the pitch as possible. All of Africa doesn't want Nigeria to qualify, so it's on the players now to do with it what they will, and I think Osimhen has to step up since he got them there with his hat-trick.

“If he plays like he did against Benin, and the rest of the team gets up to his level, Nigeria will be at the World Cup. If not, they can sit with us during the tournament.”