How Lorient’s Moffi reacted to maiden Super Eagles call-up

Lorient star Terem Moffi has explained how he reacted to his maiden Nigeria call-up.

On the back of an impressive 2020-21 campaign where he scored 14 goals in 32 Ligue 1 games, the 22-year-old was invited for the Super Eagles’ friendlies against Cameroon.

He made his international bow in the 1-0 defeat to the Indomitable Lions, replacing Paul Onuachu in the 66th minute.

He explained how coach Gernot Rohr sent him a message on WhatsApp after his treble helped Lorient silence Bordeaux 4-1 and what his response was.

“I got the call-up after the Bordeaux game. I scored a hat-trick and my phone was buzzing with messages, I looked at my WhatsApp I saw a message from Gernot Rohr. I couldn’t reply to the message instantly,” Moffi told NFF media per Completesports.

“I took a screenshot and sent it to my family group chat and I was like what do I say. It was really surprising because it’s the Super Eagles coach and it’s not everyone that gets the opportunity to a call-up in that way.

“I was really excited; it was really good, to be honest. It took me about 45 minutes to give him a response.

“I just said ‘thank you coach, it’s an honour to get a message from you. I would really like to play for my nation’, and he said he is looking forward to seeing me, it was incredible.”

The former Riteriai and Kortrijk star also stated that he was panicky sharing the pitch with some of Nigeria’s finest talents.

While claiming they helped him settle down quickly, Moffi vowed to always be at his best and score goals for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations champions.

“I was really nervous at first because I never expected that I would share the pitch with [Kelechi] Iheanacho, [Wilfred Ndidi] Ndidi and [Alex] Iwobi,” he stated.

“It’s been good so far, training sessions we have had I think I’ve done well, the boys have been helpful, it’s a really good group and I’m happy. I will try and do my best and promise to score goals.”

Moffi would be eyeing his second cap when Nigeria take on Toni Conceicao’s men on Tuesday evening.