Moses says 4-0 thumping of Cameroon in Uyo, most fulfilling moment
Attacking midfielder Victor Moses has singled out the 4-0 bashing of African champions Cameroon in Uyo on the first day of September last year as his most fulfilling match in the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying series.
The Chelsea FC ace has also handed big kudos to the President of Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick and his team for changing the administrative game for the better, through developing a special relationship with the players, keeping its word at every turn and attracting global attention to the Nigeria game through deft moves in a number of areas.
“My best match of the qualifying series was the one against Cameroon in Uyo. We went into the match with Cameroon being the champions of Africa, and with so many people expecting us to be defeated. We realized that and we told ourselves we had to go all out. We did and won handsomely. That was when we knew we had the World Cup ticket for the taking,” Moses told thenff.com in London on Friday.
Nigeria’s top scorer of the FIFA World Cup qualifying series with three goals, Moses then assured that the team retains the steel and coherence that took it past Cameroon and that those qualities will be on display in Russia this summer.
“We are a team in spirit and in action. When we were starting the qualifiers, people said it was a ‘group of death’. Now, people say we are in ‘group of death’ at the World Cup. We will keep surviving and thriving.”
Moses had glowing words for the NFF administration led by Pinnick, admitting that the NFF boss “is like a father to me.”
He said: “Mr. Pinnick is like a father to me. He calls me almost every day, advising and encouraging me in my game and life generally. The NFF he heads has done so well and done so much for the team.
“We are going to Russia to do the NFF and Nigeria proud. They have taken care of several areas that used to be points of distraction and worry for the team. Now, we have settled minds and can fully focus on the game on the pitch.”
‘I spent two-and-half hours on the queue to get Eagles’ jersey’
Helen Otitochukwu Manufor is the global brand manager for Gilbert, and a Nigerian who has lived in the United Kingdom all her life. She shared her experience with thenff.com on the first day of the release of the new Super Eagles’ kits in London on Friday.
“It was an amazing experience for me. I actually spent two-and-half hours on the queue trying to get some of the wears for myself and my little nieces.
“At the end of the day, I couldn’t get any as they were out of stock by the time it got to my turn. My nieces were unhappy when I got back home. I had to go back to the NIKE store on Oxford Street on Saturday before I could get something. By the time I was leaving, they had run out of stock again.”
Manufor’s experience typified the tale of many individuals who went out to Oxford Street on the first day of the sale of the new wears designed by NIKE for Nigeria’s Super Eagles for the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.
By Saturday morning, when NIKE decided to put up for sale some more of the wears, they didn’t last up to an hour on the counter.
“Everyone wants the Nigerian wears,” Modupeola Adebukola, another UK -based Nigerian, told thenff.com. “My friends had been talking about it for some weeks now and then we went to NIKE town (NIKE store on Oxford Street) on Friday and despite staying hours on the queue, we could not get. The queue was very, very long.”
