Chelsea striker, Victor Moses, is now a new song on the lips of football pundits, after his superlative performance for the Super Eagles at Uyo, Akwa Ibom, against Algeria in last Saturday’s World Cup qualifier, where his brace gave Nigeria a good lead in the much-needed 3-1 win.
President-General of Nigeria Football Supporters, Dr Rafiu Oladipo, said the player has shamed his critics with the five-star performance he put up against the dreaded North Africans.
“The career of a player always goes up and down. I am highly surprised that Moses’ goals could salvage the situation last Saturday, because the fans were looking up to regular scorers, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi, to deliver the goals, but suddenly, we saw two Chelsea men playing the messiah,” he told The Point.
Moses has been inspirational for Chelsea, especially under new manager, Antonio Conte, but his club mate, John Mikel Obi, has not been so lucky. Moses, who is reborn at Stamford Bridge, opened scoring in the 25th minute, with a smart right-footed finish, after some suspect defending from the Algerians.
Twenty minutes later, Mikel scored only his second ever international goal, when he beat the offside trap, after more defensive woes from Algeria, to fire the ball past hapless Rais M’Bolhi in goal.
Algeria, which had Leicester City’s duo, Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani, starting in attack, pulled one back through Spurs midfielder, Nabil Bentaleb, in the 67th minute, but Moses sealed the win in injury time, after a free-flowing counter attack.
The Nigerian is excited to return to the Chelsea’s firstteam squad, following multiple loan stints away from Stamford Bridge. The attacker was sent out on loan spells to Liverpool, Stoke City and West Ham United during Jose Mourinho’s reign at the West London giants.
The 25-year-old has earned the chance to establish himself as a regular this term, with Conte preferring him in the right wing-back role in a 3-4-3 formation.
“Apart from Moses, the competition in the Eagles camp is high. The players are now rising up to the challenges of qualifying for the World Cup. We hope to see more of this in the subsequent matches. We hope to see Moses’ consistency. It is good to see the players in their best. Virtually all of them are playing regularly in their clubs, apart from Mikel Obi, who is having an issue with his coach at Chelsea,” Dr Ladipo said.
Meanwhile, Gary Neville has described Moses as inconsistent and erratic in the past few years, but has now found his bearing with Chelsea. The former Manchester United defender had singled out Moses for special praise, following his recent resurgence at the Stamford Bridge. Even former FIFA executive member, Dr Amos Adamu, had urged Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr, to replace Moses and Mikel in Eagles, saying that they are not growing younger. But, Dr Oladipo strongly believed that Nigeria still needs the services of the two players in the national team for experience and leadership.
“You cannot buy experience, so we still need experienced players in the team and these two players have a lot to offer Nigeria,” he said. Recall that Tottenham and Chelsea scouts were after Moses before he joined Crystal Palace’s academy on the advice of his former coach, back in 2004.
Former Arsenal trainee, Tony Loizi, managed Moses at amateur club, Cosmos 90 FC, and helped to introduce his former player to the English academy system at Crystal Palace. Loizi remembers that Palace had competition from other London clubs, including both Spurs and Chelsea. “So many clubs were after him and then Crystal Palace came in,” Loizi said.
