Wigan Athletic forward and England under-21 international Victor Moses has declared his allegiance to country-of-birth Nigeria.
Moses, 20, was born in Nigeria but has represented England from under-16 to under-21 level.The former Crystal Palace man has reportedly been a long-term target of the Nigerian FA.Moses’ agent Tony Finnigan has now confirmed that his client will join up with the Nigeria squad for their African Cup of Nations qualifier against Ethiopia on Saturday.”Victor has accepted the Nigeria call-up, and everyone at Wigan is fully behind him, which is important,” Finnigan told Skysports.”Victor is linking up with the squad ahead of their game with Ethiopia and is really looking forward to playing for Nigeria.”Nigeria assistant coach Simon Kalika confirmed the recruitment of Moses, who can operate both as a wide attacker and forward.”We have called up Moses for this weekend’s match against Ethiopia after we made a couple of changes in the squad,” Kalika said.Nigeria are also hoping to select Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi and Manchester City’s Nedum Onuoha.Both players were born in Nigeria but have represented England at under-21 level. Ameobi, 29, has yet to make an appearance for Nigeria after a fractured cheekbone forced him to withdraw from the squad to play a friendly match against Sierra Leone in February.Onuoha, 24, in on loan from City at English Premier League rivals Sunderland. The defender has previously expressed an interest in playing for both England and Nigeria but is yet to be make a full international appearance for either country. “Onouha is a fantastic defender and very soon he and the chief coach (Samson Siasia) would have a good meeting and we will start from there,” Kalika said.”It was just a communication problem between the player and the chief coach and so in the end he wasn’t able to discuss with Onuoha.”"But I am sure that he is proud to be a Nigerian and very soon he will signify his intention to join the team.”
Mon 21 March, 2011