'Played right back' - Troost-Ekong namechecks one Super Eagles player used out of position v Rwanda

Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong has confirmed that some players were used out of position during the 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Rwanda on Friday evening.

A first half brace from Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen earned the Super Eagles their first win in the qualifiers.

Eric Chelle started Ola Aina at left-back although the Nottingham Forest defender is primarily a right back, while Fulham's Alex Iwobi played as a double pivot in what appeared to be a 4-2-3-1 formation. 

Troost-Ekong was full of praise for Nigeria's star players Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, but insisted that the win against the Wasps was a result of collective effort.

"I want to congratulate the coach on his first win. I also want to start off by saying that the game against Rwanda wasn't easy. We've faced them several times now, it's a team that we respect," Troost-Ekong said at the post-match press conference. 

"Like the coach said we tried to understand what he wanted us to do early on. We only had maybe two or three full training sessions, a lot of video sessions, but today you saw glimpses of what we should be expecting under coach Eric Chelle.

"Talking about players, Victor Osimhen is fantastic player, he's among the world's best together with Ademola Lookman, Africa's best player, but I don't want to single out anyone."

Troost-Ekong highlighted the team's unity and adaptability, giving special mention to Alhassan Yusuf, who stepped out of his comfort zone to play as a makeshift right back following an injury to Bright Osayi-Samuel in the 77th minute.

"Today's performance was a collective performance just as important as other players that came off the bench. 

"We had debutant Tolu (Arokodare) who was fantastic, players that played out of position like (Alhassan) Yusuf who came in and played right back and I could go on and go on."

Chelle was left with no choice but to deploy Yusuf in the right back position as Ola Aina, who could have filled in from the left, had left the pitch just ten minutes before Osayi-Samuel's injury.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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