Victor Moses, Super Eagles attacking midfielder, is one of the few players of Nigeria descent that have taken the soccer-loving world by storm with his scintillating skills. With a growing trophy haul, regular football and ever-increasing respect, Moses has overcome both personal heartbreak and repeated professional setbacks to finally reach the top.
Born, December 12, 1990 in Lagos, Moses grew up as a happy child from a family of Christians. According to reports, everything was good until little Moses got to the age of 11. That day in 2002 was like any other day, as he left house to play football with his friends. After a while, Moses returned home, and the things he saw never left his memories. Pastor Austine Moses and Mrs. Josephine Moses, his lovely parents, were dead.
It was said that they were killed by Muslim youths during a Christian and Muslim riot.
Just a week later, his remaining family had cobbled together enough money to send him away from his homeland to England under the statutes of an asylum seeker following the demise of his parents.
That is how a quiet, unassuming and non-English speaking African orphan found himself in south London and at the start of a dramatic change in his fortunes.
Having been placed with foster parents, Moses was sent to school in South Norwood, which was close to an asylum support and immigration centre in Croydon.
More than just surviving, the player has thrived in his second home. Today, Moses boasts Premier League, Europa League and Africa Cup of Nations winners’ medals, and has also played in both the Champions League and World Cup.
As earlier noted, the first tentative steps on the road of Moses blossoming career were taken shortly after arriving in London. As is common in young Nigerians, Moses played football for fun and his enthusiasm and prowess on the pitch soon led to him catching the attentions of Cosmos 90 FC, a team which played in a nearby youth league.
According to reports, the Sunday League side had been struggling at the time but Moses’ arrival soon turned the club’s fortunes around and word rapidly spread about the dazzling African talent playing on the pitches of south London. Hundreds started watching Cosmos’ games.
“It was Cosmos who actually told Crystal Palace about me,” added Moses. “Palace came to have a look, liked what they saw and they took it from there.”
Impressing on trial, Moses signed a schoolboy contract with the south London club.
Palace then placed the teenager in one of Croydon’s best private schools, Whitgift, giving him access to superb tuition, facilities and an environment in which he could move on from his past at his own pace.
On the football pitch his extraordinary goalscoring exploits for the school led them to the English Schools Under-14 Cup final where Moses scored all five goals in the final.
In what now seems like fateful coincidence, Whitgift’s football coach was a Chelsea legend, the former defender Colin Pates.
“He was a good man, and I always like being around him,” said Moses. “He always encourages me every time he sees me and he always believed in me when we used to play school games.”
“He encouraged me to do the best I can to become a professional footballer. At that time I was very young but when older people like that are giving advice, you have to take it.
“The most important thing that he always said to me is: ‘You’ve got to work hard as a footballer. Talent alone won’t take you there, hard work is what is going to help you’.”
During the next few years he played for Crystal Palace, then, and the end of January 2010 he was transferred to Wigan Athletic (a move which earned him £2.5 million). He left Crystal Palace due to the financial problems of the club. There was even a time when Victor Moses could choose bigger clubs instead of Wigan Athletic. The footballer commented on that: “There was no point in me going to a bigger club and sitting on the bench. I got a chance, and it was the right decision”.
Before long, Victor Moses grew into one of the great footballers at Wigan Athletic. In the season of 2010-2011, he suffered two injuries but soon got back on track.
At the end of the season, he was valued at almost £10m when Chelsea called him. He decided that it is time to grow and on August 24, 2012 the transfer to Chelsea was completed.
He took part in the League Cup game that became his first debut for Chelsea – they won 6-0 with him scoring the first goal. He was also named “the Man of the Match” for his brilliant play in the League Cup against Manchester United. Moses also scored in the Premier League and Champions League during the games against Swansea City and Shakhtar Donetsk respectively. He was quite successful – he scored in his first Europa League game and the Europa League Final.
For the next two seasons (2013-2014 and 2014-2015) he signed a season-long contract with Liverpool and Stoke City respectively. There were some good games during the seasons, but the end of 2015 was unfortunate for Moses – he got a bad hamstring injury and could not play for the rest of the season.
In 2015-2016 he returned to Chelsea but not for a long time – he signed a season-long loan with West Ham United. However, before signing the loan with West Ham United, he signed a contract with Chelsea that lasts until 2019.
In 2011, Moses accepted the offer to play for Nigeria and helped the Super Eagles win the Africa Cup of Nations after 19 years of waiting.
It was a great honor for Moses to win the AFCON trophy with the Eagles and represent Nigeria at the same time.
At club level, Moses had the perseverance to make a success of his Chelsea career despite being continually sent out on loan says a great deal about his character.
Prior to Conte’s arrival at Chelsea in July 2016, only Rafa Benitez had given Moses anything like a chance at the Blues following his signing from Wigan Athletic in 2012.
After Benitez’s exit, Jose Mourinho, who took charge in 2013, didn’t have a place for Moses in his team and sent him away on consecutive season-long loans to Liverpool, Stoke and West Ham.
Yet Conte saw something in the Nigerian that no one else had spotted, not even Moses himself.
“I’ve never played that (wing-back) position before,” says Moses. “When the manager came in, he talked me through it and then put me there.”
Moses was thrust into Chelsea’s starting line-up for the first time in three years, at Hull in the league in October 2016. He adapted to the unfamiliar role so well that not only was he named man-of-the-match, but his performance kick-started a run of 22 Premier League appearances in a row (halted only briefly when injury struck in April).
Aside all the aforementioned , Moses has also celebrated Russia 2018 World Cup qualification this year with Nigeria and was among the five-man shortlist for the prestigious 2017 BBC African Footballer of the Year award. No wonder soccer fans worldwide will continue to celebrate the rise and rise of an unstoppable Eagle, Victor Moses!
