AFCON 2023: Troost-Ekong Named Player Of The Tournament, Williams Beat Nwabali To Goalkeeper Award

Super Eagles stand-in captain, William Troost-Ekong, has been named the player of the tournament at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations which concluded in Ivory Coast on Sunday night.

Ekong scored Nigeria’s only goal in the final in the 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast and his impressive performances in the competition has been rewarded.

He scored three goals in the competition, opening his account in the 1-0 win over Ivory Coast in the group stage before scoring a penalty against South Africa in the semi-finals.

Ekong opened the scoring for Nigeria with a thumping header against Ivory Coast in the final but he and his teammates failed to see off the game as they fell to a 2-1 defeat in Abidjan to win the silver medal.

Equatorial Guinea’s Emilio Nsue finished as the top scorer of the competition with five goals and he was awarded the gong at the end of the final match.

South Africa’s Ronwen Williams beat Stanley Nwabali to the goalkeeper of the tournament award after conceding two goals from 10 shots with five clean sheets.

The Bafana Bafana also went home with the Fair Play Award which was presented to Ronwen Williams as the captain of the team.

Ivory Coast will be rewarded with a cash prize of $7m, while the Super Eagles who finished as runners-up will get $4m.

The third-placed team and the fourth-placed team will receive $2.5m respectively.