FC Lorient striker Terem Moffi has already made his Super Eagles debut, but the former Brooke House Academy of England star must now step up to keep his place in the national team in the same way the team’s top scorer Victor Osimhen has, reckons IKENWA NNABUOGOR…
No doubt Terem Moffi should be featuring regularly for his country judging by his goals and solid performances for his French club this season – six goals in eight appearances to be the third leading scorer in Ligue 1
The former KV Kortrijk striker has done well for himself, but he must now stand up to be counted among the starters in the Eagles going forward, either as the top striker or a twin striker.
Moffi’s Super Eagles sojourn has been characterised by default invites mostly as a result of unavailability of preferred choices due to injury and or club commitments.
It appears those default days are over as coach Jose Peseiro deservedly named the striker on the original squad list for the friendlies against Algeria on September 23 and 27, 2022.
Osimhen’s absence helped cement Peseiro’s confidence to hand Moffi yet another invite, following up on his impressive start (his third on Eagles colours) in the 10-0 hammering of Sao Tome & Principe last June.
Since his Eagles sojourn last year in the double friendlies against bitter rivals Cameroon in Austria, Moffi has managed to step out of Osimhen’s shadows to appear seven times for his country, scoring twice and looking good to win Peseiro’s heart for more invites.
Moffi appears to be highly favoured ito lead the line in the friendlies in Algeria as his debut came under the same circumstances, funny enough in Osimhen’s absence, though, he started three previous games.
It’s indeed fulfilling for Moffi to reunite with his former Golden Eaglets mate, but stepping it further by eyeing a dream pair in the attack with the Napoli powerful striker should be top-of-the-shelf priority for the young striker, who has done well to attract top clubs from across Europe since he took France by storm two years ago.
Pairing Osimhen in the Eagles attack and later graduating to be the arrow head shouldn’t be a wishful thinking for the striker who netted 14 goals in his first season in the French top flight and has proved wherever he has played that he knows his way to goal.
This, in hard truth, is an onerous task for the young striker to achieve as Osimhen’s immediate and long terms plans do not include slowing down for the Eagles any time soon.
One thing is sure for Moffi, nevertheless, consistency and precision in front of goal could make things work faster for him, but then he has to bring something extra for Peseiro to trust him, like Gernot Rohr did Napoli star Osimhen.
A powerful, left-footed target man, Moffi has a clever football brain, added to impressive team play and self-belief to make a serious case for himself, perhaps, a move to a very top club, followed up by more goals could have him upset the dynamics in the Eagles attack.
Peseiro, just like any other coach, will not take his eyes off his trusted talisman Osimhen any time soon unless the unthinkable happens to his form or he is on the treatment table.
Moffi will first do well to establish himself in the Eagles, while maintaining the high standards at his French club to be considered ahead of other strikers like Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, Sadiq Umar, Paul Onuachu and Victor Boniface.
