Christian Ekong relieved he’s back to action

By Oviri Kelvin

Enyimba’s striker, Christian Ekong, is happy to be back in action for the Aba-based club after spending over a year on the sidelines due to injury.

The blazing forward whose ferocious volley against Nasarawa United hit the crossbar before creating a late penalty that resulted in Enyimba coasting home a 3-2 victory, added that he was born to be a great footballer.

Ekong joined Enyimba in April 2021 from Akwa Ibom-based club, Dakkada FC, to assuage the club’s goalscoring difficulties but has since been nursing one injury or the other, keeping him out of action for thirteen months.

After the injury woes, the striker made his debut on Sunday, May 22, 2022, for Enyimba in an away match against Katsina United where he played an eleven-minute cameo according to NPFL report.

However, in his first home debut and second match for coach George Finidi’s side, he came in the 70th minute to substitute Samuel Stone, the first goalscorer of the Peoples’ Elephant 3-2 win and made a huge impact to aid the club’s victory.

In a post-match interview, he said, “Football is a mind game, forget the injuries, once you believe in yourself, there’s nothing you can not do if you add God to it.

“I know I passed through many things but I believed that one day I will come back to play because I know that is my calling.

“I thank God for the opportunity that the coach gave to me and for the few minutes I played, at least I proved myself that there is someone in the team,” he added.

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Ekong continued: “The coach was telling me to watch the two forwards. Samuel Stone was drifting out of the box but I have the speed and stamina to bulldoze through so if I entered I should just put myself inside the box and that helped us.

“I would have preferred if I scored. Had it been I scored that goal (that came off the crossbar), I would have just gone straight to the altar and thanked God for everything because it’s not easy.

Ekong reiterated that he is determined to help the club succeed knowing fully well that they have few games left to round up the 2021-2022 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) season.

He added that they are prepared to defeat Rivers United when they host the NPFL league leaders in the Enyimba Stadium.