Tochukwu Nnadi has expressed surprise and excitement after being named in Nigeria’s final 26-man Super Eagles squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, Softfootball reports.
In a video shared by the NFF on their official Youtube Channel, the Imo State-born midfielder opened up on the emotional moment he discovered he had made the final list. Nnadi revealed that his inclusion came as a shock, especially after initially appearing on the preliminary squad list.
According to Nnadi, he was on a call with his father discussing his chances of making the final squad when the news broke.
Below are his exact words as shared in the video:
My name is Toukunady, player from Zut Waram and a player of the Super Eagles. I was on call with my dad because the first list came out and it was the preliminary list. So my dad called me to ask me if I’m going to Morocco or not.
And I’m like, I don’t know yet. I have to wait for the finalist. So I was on call with him and a friend texted me on Instagram to wish me congratulations. Then I screamed. I’m like, Dad, I’m going to the AFCON.” So I was happy. My family
was happy as well. It’s a dream come true. I was young and I I’m always dreaming to be in the national team one day. I played in the under 20 and now I’m in the Super Eagles. though I was not expecting it to be too soon, but now I’m here and yeah, I’m happy.
I was looking up to Ko and um I was also looking up to and also because I’m in Belgium and he’s also in Belgium. So those are the players that I look up to. I’m from Imo State and uh I grew up there. I was
in campus football academy but now it’s it’s a club cuz they played I think class two season in the NNL or something like that. So yeah, it helped me a lot. It’s an academy where you get to work hard every day.
It’s not just on the ball but you have to do a lot of work outside the pitch. They try to monitor you as well doing your schools and everything. So yeah, it helped me a lot. I’m inspired by the passion and the love football. Um I mean getting to work hard
every day is just an inspiration that I get from my childhood when I was young and also looking up to players like Cristiano Ronaldo, what they put out there, the interviews we see and everything. So I get to understand that they work hard a lot and it’s it takes a lot to be in this level.
So I just work hard and yeah I know being in the national team comes with a lot of pressure because we are I come from a country where there are two billion people. I don’t know. So playing for them, I know it’s heavy, but I’m here to like show my quality, fight for the team, and I hope we we win the AFCON.”
Nnadi previously represented Nigeria at the U-20 level and now earns a major career milestone with his first senior AFCON call-up. He also spoke with excitement about sharing the dressing room with senior players, including Wilfred Ndidi, who recently celebrated his 29th birthday.
Meanwhile, the Super Eagles will face the Pharaohs of Egypt later today in an international friendly, scheduled for 7:00 pm Nigeria time. While it remains unclear whether Tochukwu Nnadi will feature in the starting eleven, the young midfielder will be hoping to make a strong impression as Nigeria continue preparations for AFCON 2025.
