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While he may not be getting on the pitch quite as often as he would have hoped for when accepting a loan move that took him north from Stamford Bridge to Anfield for the season, winger Victor Moses was handed some good news late on Tuesday when he was named Nigeria's footballer of the year. Moses beat out John Obi Mikel and Sunday Mba for the honour, though Mikel made up for his loss to Moses by being named sportsman of the year as part of the same ceremony.
Moses took to Twitter to acknowledge his win, saying he was "proud an honoured to win the Nigerian footballer of the year award for 2013" and that it's "a dream come true to play for my country, so thank you to everyone." After representing England at the youth level, in 2012 Moses pledged his allegiance to Nigeria and has since scored six times in 17 competitive matches for the senior side. He was a key member of Nigera's Africa Cup of Nations winning team earlier this year.
As for his chances at Liverpool, despite finding his time more limited over the past month, Moses remains upbeat—about his chances moving forward, the chances of his loan club, and manager Brendan Rodgers. And given a busy December schedule for Liverpool and Moses' determined attitude, it's almost certain he'll be given the chance to impress in the coming weeks just as he did in his first few appearances at the club.
"He's a great manager to play under," said Moses when asked about his relationship with Rodgers and why he chose Liverpool. "I've known him since I was 16 when I was at Palace and he was at Chelsea. He really wanted me to go there [but] I said no a few times. I thought Palace was the best place for me at that time, but he never forgot about me. I was delighted when he came in for me again. There were a few clubs interesting in taking me, but when I heard about Liverpool my decision was made straight away.
"I wanted to be at a club that is fighting for trophies. There's a lot of quality here and if we can keep the momentum going, I think we can challenge for the Premier League and, if not, finish in the top four. You have to believe you can be the best, otherwise there's no point in trying."
