Garrett McInnis
Number 11: Victor Moses
Country: Nigeria
Position: Attacking Midfielder
Club Team: Liverpool(On loan from Chelsea)
American-Based Professional Sport “Soulmate”: Roy Hibbert, Center, Indiana Pacers
When you’re an African nation that shuffles through talent the way that Nigeria has, a talent like Victor Moses is all you need to find optimism entering the World Cup. The failure to part the Red Seas of the initial rounds in the past will fade as the rosters are matched up and the first kick is made. Alas, the optimism you felt just months ago has faded like the smoldering embers of a bush that had burned just a bit too quickly. Is the flame dying out……or is the flame just looking for the right breeze to make a full revival?
The 2013-2014 season started with hope and optimism for Moses. Just weeks into the season he exited a crowded Chelsea midfield for a season long loan with a promising Liverpool. In his debut with Liverpool, a 2-2 draw with Swansea, Moses scored and drew rave reviews.
After a season of turmoil, Moses faces a crisis of confidence and questions about form.
Alas, the good times would not last. Victor endured the football equivalent of water into blood, deceased livestock, boils on his people, and the inevitable locusts on his season as his playing time shrunk and his confidence disappeared. Despite his struggles, his club maintained their place in the league and survived the bumps in the road. While his club survived, his National team is still reliant on his form. The world will be watching to see if he can show more for the Super Eagles than he did for Liverpool this year.
Moses finds himself in much the same situation as Jozy Altidore. He’s still a youthful 24 years old with only a few years of top flight football under the boils of his skin. Despite his club form, he’ll no doubt be crucial to the attacking potential of his national team. Has his time on the bench made him mentally tougher or has is fractured his psyche, and in the process, the hopes of a nation?
Victor Moses knows his importance to the Nigerian team’s hopes.
So what is important to know about Moses as a player? Well, for one he’s fast. A rather diminutive presence, he makes his living by beating defenders off the dribble and creating for his teammates. While fully capable of scoring, his bread and butter is made creating for his teammates through breaking down defenses with skill and pace. Against the likes of Iran and Bosnia Herzegovina he will have an athletic advantage against every assigned defender. His aggression and chutzpah could be the difference in Nigeria repeating its past performances and advancement towards the golden trophy.
It would be easy to determine the 10 commandments necessary for Moses and the Super Eagles to have a successful tournament in Brazil this summer but in reality, that would be a bit overreaching. Instead, their success will likely come down to the ability for the team to create a free flowing game that allows Moses and his athletically gifted teammates to take advantage of their more stationary and organized opponents. Can Moses find room to roam….will he have the mindset to attack and overtake his opposing defenses to their breaking point? Many would say, based on his club form this season, ‘not in a million years.’ Sometimes, however, the World Cup and patriotic allegiances defy logic. This 24 year old will require the mental toughness of a veteran to prove that the past 9 months were a fluke if he is to lead Nigeria on an Exodus out of the group stages…#mosesjokes.
Garrett McInnis is a longtime contributing writer for The Yanks Are Coming. Follow him on Twitter at @GarrettMcInnis.