AFCON
WILLIAM TROOST-EKONG TELLS EGYPT’S AHRAM HIS PREFERENCE FOR NIGERIA OVER THE NETHERLANDS
Towering defender William Troost-Ekong turned out to be a hero
for Nigeria at the ongoing African Cup of Nations after scoring the winning
goal in Wednesday’s 2-1 win against South Africa in the quarter final, securing
a spot for his team amongst the best four teams of the tournament.
He was the third African player to commit one per cent of his salary to charity
as part of Juan Mata’s Common Goal project.
Born to a Nigerian father and Dutch mother, he grew up near
Amsterdam but speaks, as a result of his schooling, with a discernible north
London twang.
The Udinese player opens up for Ahram Online ahead of Nigeria’s AFCON semi final match against Algeria on Sunday.
Firstly, what is your impression about the AFCON organization and the atmosphere in Egypt?
It’s been very pleasant for us here in Egypt and we are enjoying being here a lot. It’s difficult to compare between this AFCON and others cause this is my first ever African tournament.
I think we’ve been lucky to have the pre-tournament training
camp at Ismailia and then our group stage games at Alexandria. Now we are in
Cairo, so I think all the places we have been to where very good and
comfortable. The pitches have been good, it’s only the hot weather which have
been difficult for us but we play at night so it’s been good.
And what is your opinion about the AFCON’s new summer timing?
I like that the AFCON is being played in the summer cause I don’t want to miss
too many games with my club.
My club won’t be happy to leave them during the season for the AFCON, so I guess it’s easier like that. I don’t need to get into any trouble to play with the National team.
How do you assess your experience with the National team?
I had different experiences with the National team, I was at the World Cup Russia 2018 and I think there are a lot of different things between both competitions.
In the AFCON we have less international fans and its difficult for fans from West Africa to come and support us here. In the African football it’s more direct games. In the World Cup it’s faster and we have to adapt on the style of play.
You played for Holland at junior levels, but you made your debut for the Nigerian senior team in 2015 after an impressive season on loan at Dutch side FC Dordrecht. Why did you prefer Nigeria over Holland?
My choice to play for Nigeria’s first national team wasn’t a hard one cause at that time I didn’t have the chance to play for the Dutch national team.
I know I won’t make any
of my family proud playing for Netherlands, so I chose to be a part of the
Nigerian National team. Now I think I made the right decision cause I played
the Olympic games, the World Cup, and the AFCON and I had some great moments
playing for Nigeria.
What is the role of Nigeria’s captains and how do they motivate
the young players during the AFCON?
We have experienced players like John Obi Mikel and Ahmed Musa. I think for the next generation I’ll hopefully have the same impact on the less experienced players.
Now I’m so happy to be a part of the team, especially in my position as centre back. I try to talk a lot and motivate my teammates as much as I can.
We have some meetings with the team captains and I think Ahmed Musa said something great when he told us “If you win the AFCON, it can change your lives and it’ll open all the doors for you like what happened to us in 2013 when we won it.
Winning the AFCON is something you’ll tell your kids and grandkids about.”, this is the most motivation we’ve had.
What is your impression about the winning goal against South Africa?
Although it was the urgliest goal I’ve scored, scoring that goal
against Bafana Bafana was one of the highlights of my career. The importance of
the goal made it definitely the best goal I’ve scored in my career. I hope we
can do more in the semi final and final. It’s nice to score for a defender but
it’s not everything for me.
Nigeria wasn’t one of the favorites for winning the competition,
however they reached the semi final, how you do you assess the team’s progress?
Egypt were a clear favorite before the tournament, also Senegal is a fantastic team. Nobody had any expectations for Nigeria nor were we favorites, but we had the feeling that we wanted to come here and fight for the competition.
We weren’t thinking about playing the semi finals or final. We were focusing one game at a time and we slowly grew up in the tournament. I hope we pick up our good form in the right time.
How do you see the semi final match against Algeria?
So far, Algeria have been the best team in the AFCON, but they
think they are playing for 120 minutes against Cote D’Ivoire could affect them
in the next game as they have to travel from Suez to Cairo and they will only
train once before the semi final match.
So far, Algeria have been the best team in the AFCON, but their 120 minutes against Cote d’Ivoire right before travelling to their next game could be a problem for them.
They have to travel from Suez to Cairo, and then train once they arrive for the semi final match. They are in a good place mentally because they qualified for the semi final, but if the game goes to extra time we’ll have the advantage physically.
Algeria scored ten goals in the AFCON so far. What is Algeria’s main threat?
It’s difficult to choose only one threat from the Algerian team. I think they have world class players in all attacking positions. They also have players on the bench who can make differences.
I think it’ll be a difficult game and we need everyone to be in
their best shape on Sunday. We have to play compact and be collective, I think
when we are organized in the defense it’s quite difficult to get through.
It’s been reported that there will be more than 5,000 Algerian
fans at Cairo Stadium to support Algeria in their semi final clash against
Nigeria, what is your opinion?
I think it will be more pressure on Algeria, but I think that
we’ll also have supporters because last match the Egyptian fans cheered for us.
On the pitch we try to concentrate and zone everything out so to give our best.
Finally, What is your impression about your club-career at
Udinese in the Serie A?
I think it’s the best league I’ve played in my career. As a central defender I am learning a lot there. I’ve improved a lot since last season and I almost played every game. I am really happy at Udinese.
I am not in a rush to go anywhere since I’ve had a contract with Udinese for three years, but maybe after the AFCON if I receive a good opportunity to step up I’ll think about it.
The African Football Confederation (CAF) and Royal Air Maroc (RAM) have sealed a historic strategic partnership that grants Morocco’s national airline the status of “Official Global Partner” for upcoming major African football competitions.
The agreement was signed Saturday morning in Casablanca, in the presence of Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) President Fouzi Lekjaâ.
This partnership encompasses several prestigious tournaments, including the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (AFCON) 2025 (December 21, 2025 – January 18, 2026) and CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Morocco (WAFCON) 2024 (July 5-26, 2025).
The agreement also covers CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025, CAF Champions League 2024/2025 Finals, CAF Confederation Cup 2024/2025 Finals, and the CAF Women’s Champions League 2025.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe voiced enthusiasm about the collaboration.
“We are excited about the partnership between CAF and Royal Air Maroc, a world-class airline that will provide comfort and fly NationalTeams participating in the CAF competitions,” he said.
“We are confident that the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 will be the most successful AFCON in the history of this competition.”
The agreement strengthens RAM’s footprint across Africa and globally, solidifying its role as a strategic gateway between Africa and the rest of the world. It also aligns with Morocco’s emergence as an international sports hub, with the country preparing to host AFCON 2025 and co-host the FIFA World Cup 2030.
RAM’s Chairman and CEO Hamid Addou stated: “This historic partnership with CAF aligns fully with our strategic vision as an airline deeply rooted in Africa and committed to its development.”
“Royal Air Maroc doesn’t just connect destinations; it builds bridges between cultures and passions. By supporting the continent’s biggest football competitions, we reaffirm our role as a facilitator of human and sporting exchanges,” he continued.
500,000 supporters expected
Beyond its partnership role, RAM will implement an exceptional operational system to meet increased demand during CAF competitions. The airline plans to welcome over 500,000 supporters for AFCON 2025.
“We believe we will surpass this figure by far,” revealed Addou. “We will be ready to accommodate these supporters across Royal Air Maroc’s entire network.”
The airline intends to double seat capacity from qualified countries already served by RAM, such as Dakar, Abidjan, Cairo, Tunis, Bamako, Lagos, and Douala.
RAM will also intensify flight frequencies from European cities with large African communities, including Paris, Brussels, Milan, London, Marseille, Lyon, Madrid, and Barcelona.
Additionally, the airline will establish a dedicated program for domestic air transport of national teams, shuttling them between their base camps and host cities.
This positioning establishes RAM as the primary connector between Africa and Europe through its Casablanca hub. FRMF President Fouzi Lekjaâ noted that the contract “reinforces Royal Air Maroc’s first-rate leadership role in Africa.”
“Royal Air Maroc is no stranger to football,” Lekjaâ added. “It has always supported generations of our athletes and footballers here in Morocco.”
“With this expertise and experience, they will contribute significantly to making AFCON 2025 Morocco exceptional, a historic turning point in African football, cultural coexistence and African cultural exchange,” he concluded.
Addou stressed RAM’s commitment to African unity: “We are all extremely proud to be African, and in every corner of this vast and magnificent continent, we share the same ambition—to actively contribute to Africa’s development and influence.”
The RAM CEO concluded by inviting everyone to upcoming CAF calendar events: “We’ll see you very soon for the great moments ahead in the CAF calendar, particularly the Women’s AFCON starting in July and, of course, the men’s AFCON, which kicks off on December 25.”
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The presidents of the regional councils concerned by the hosting of the matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (Morocco-2025) unanimously affirmed that the implementation of infrastructure projects in anticipation of this continental event “is progressing at a sustained pace”, declaring themselves “fully mobilized” to crown with success the major sporting events scheduled in the Kingdom.
They specified, in statements to the press in Rabat following a meeting at the headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior devoted to the assessment of the progress of the construction and rehabilitation works of the stadiums, that major sports infrastructure projects are underway in the six host cities: Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Fez, Marrakech and Agadir.
The President of the Casablanca-Settat Regional Council, Abdellatif Maâzouz, announced that the projects planned for upcoming international sporting events, in particular the 2025 African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, “are proceeding under good conditions.”
The projects related to the organisation of the AFCON will be ready by next July at the latest, he assured, specifying that there is a clear vision regarding the preparations underway for the AFCON and the 2030 World Cup, both in terms of equipment and organisational arrangements related to human resources and animation.
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AFCON
‘Land of Football’ is ‘Kingdom of Light’ as Moroccan Tourism Office and Football Federation Strike Accord
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Morocco’s football federation and tourism office have signed a groundbreaking agreement to establish the country as a major football and tourism destination leading to the milestone 2030 World Cup when the global football tournament clocks a century.
The Moroccan football body and the Tourism Office are building on the national team’s recent international success.
Though with just one success in the Africa Cup of Nations, Moroccan football soars higher than the rest in Africa and the Arab world at the World Cup.
Apart from being the only African and Arab country to have reached the World Cup semi-final stage, Morocco in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico became the first African team not to be defeated in a World Cup match when they forced Bulgaria to a 1-1 draw on 11 June.
Again, in Mexico, this time at the 1986 World Cup, Morocco became the first African team to top a group and cross the group stage.
They were just two minutes away from a major upset of West Germany in the round of 16 before Lothar Matthäus’ back-breaking goal.
The success of the football team and the tourism potential of Morocco have found a harmonious chord.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) and the National Moroccan Tourism Office (ONMT) will work together under the banner “Morocco, Land of Football,” placing the sport at the heart of the country’s tourism strategy.
“More than an institutional partnership, this convention is a shared vision: that of a Morocco that shines through football and makes it a lever for promotion, pride and tourist attractiveness,” ONMT said in a statement released after the signing.
The timing of this collaboration is strategic, coming ahead of two major sporting events: the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal.
The initiative builds on widespread public enthusiasm following the Atlas Lions’ historic World Cup performance in 2022.
Under the agreement, both organizations will implement an integrated communication strategy combining visibility campaigns, influence marketing, and joint promotional activities.
The initiative will mobilize iconic figures from Moroccan football to bring this vision to life, to showcase the country’s world-class sporting facilities, rich cultural heritage, and diverse tourist attractions.
ONMT has launched a major offensive at making Morocco, the ultimate tourism and business destination as the clock ticks down to the 35th Africa Cup of Nations holding in December.
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