Afcon 2021: Moses Simon, the new wings of Super Eagles

Since the exit of great players like Finidi George, Austin Okocha, Daniel Amokachi, Mutiu Adepoju, Rasheed Yekini, Emmanuel Amunike, John Obi Mikel and other great players who gave the Super Eagles the wings to fly in football tournaments, Nigerians have been searching for players who will rise to the occasion and put smiles on their faces in major championships like Afcon and the FIFA World Cup.

All eyes were on Napoli forward Victor Oshimen to play the role in Cameroon but due to NFF officials’ ineptitude and Napoli Football Club officials being stingy with the truth, Oshimen did not make it to Cameroon.

Just when Nigerians were predicting an uninspiring performance by the Super Eagles in Cameroon which many believed will start with Egypt and her star forward Mo Salah teaching a football lesson in our opening game Simon Moses rose from grass to grace to become our hero.

Moses not only outshined Salah in our first match he was named the Man of the Match.

Just when sceptics were saying his performance was a flash in the pan Moses shut the mouth of doubting Thomases by his glowing performances against Sudan and Equatorial-Guinea. 

Now football buffs are putting on the pedestal with Finidi and other great wingers that have worn the green/white/green.

But for Moses, life has been rough patches before he arrived at his present destination.

 As a young man who dreams of taking up football as a lifelong career, nothing interests him than sneaking out of his dad's Eagles' eye surveillance to play football with young kids. 

While he derived pleasure playing football with his young friend, he knows that severe punishment awaits him when he gets home. To him, he does not matter as his insatiable appetite for football is satisfied on a rugged pitch.

But for his father, the senior Moses, his son’s route to success in life is a career in the military but his mother differs.  She played a prominent role by supporting her son’s choice, and today, it was the best decision of her life.

Moses is today is leading Nigeria's quest to win its fourth African Cup of Nations in Cameroon. The FC Nantes star is determined to pay the host back in their coin after Indomitable Lions won the trophy in 1984, 1988 and year 2000 at the expense of Nigeria.

Robust yet speedy, the winger frequently enjoyed taking on defenders, Moses is built for the kill, equally formidable as a convenient as a right or left-winger, his class and attacking touch on the grass has shone like bacon at the ongoing African Cup of Nations.

Gernot Rohr impact

Love or loathe him, one area that the former Super Eagles Franco-German manager, Gernot Rohr was spot on remains his insistence on keeping faith with Moses in his trying days as injury-ravaged his career. Nigeria would have lost a diamond that was waiting to evolve as Emmanuel Amunike's heir.

Rohr may have blotted his copybook as a manager who excelled as a scout more than a tactician set up to bark out orders from touchline, but Moses has matured into a genuine winger and has certainly responded in the right way since missing out on Ajax signing.

A star is born

One of the things that is going well for Super Eagles at the ongoing AFCON has to do with Moses's newly found form. His master class has lifted the Nigerian national team above troubled water especially in the opening clash against The Pharaohs of Egypt. 

Like Amunike in his playing days, Moses doesn't have the tendency to make errors of judgment, which is a cardinal sin in a tournament as big as AFCON.

Nigeria's status as the main favourites to this year's AFCON, with all due respect to other Super Eagles players, will be determined by the consistency of this attacking sentinel when Super Eagles resume hostilities on Sunday.