Victor Moses - Footballer, Facts and Facts

Victor Moses was born on December 12, 1990, in Lagos, Nigeria, to a Christian pastor. Both his parents were killed when he was 11 years old. With the help of his relatives, young Moses was sent to the UK as an asylum seeker.

In the UK, he attended the ‘Stanley Technical High School,’ also known as the ‘Harris Academy,’ in South Norwood. While in high school, he started playing football for ‘Cosmos 90 FC’ in the local ‘Tandridge League.’ He was spotted by scouts from ‘Crystal Palace FC’ and was invited to play in the club’s ‘Selhurst Park’ stadium, which was close to his school.

He was recommended for a scholarship to the ‘Whitgift School’ in Croydon, where former ‘Chelsea’ and ‘Arsenal’ football star Colin Pates coached the school football team. Victor made a name for himself at the tender age of 14, by scoring 50 goals for the ‘Under-14’ team of ‘Crystal Palace.’ He was instrumental in the school team, helping them win a number of cups, including a national-level tournament, which saw him score all five goals of his team against ‘Healing School’ of Grimsby.

Moses started his professional football career with ‘Crystal Palace’ at the age of 16, with a draw against ‘Cardiff City.’ He scored his first senior-level goal in a match against ‘West Bromwich Albion’ in March 2008. He made a total of 16 appearances for the club in the 2007–2008 season and went on to extend his contract for another year. He scored twice in his 32 appearances. However, the club landed into some serious financial problems, and Victor had to seek a change soon.

In January 2010, he signed a £ 2.5-million transfer to ‘Wigan Athletic’ for the ‘Premier League.’ He scored his first goal for the club in a match against ‘Hull City’ in May 2010. He suffered a few injuries and had to sit out for a while, till he scored his first league goal of the season in a 1–0 win over ‘West Bromwich Albion’ in November 2010. He continued to play for the club in the 2011–2012 season and was a regular starter.

Moses was transferred to ‘Chelsea’ in August 2012 and played his first match for the club as a substitute against their West London rivals ‘Queens Park Rangers.’ He scored his first league goal for ‘Chelsea’ against ‘Wolverhampton Wanderers’ and his first ‘Premier League’ goal against ‘Swansea City’ in November 2012. This was followed by his first ‘Champions League’ goal against ‘Shakhtar Donetsk.’ His brilliant form continued with his first ‘Europa League’ goal against ‘Rubin Kazan.’

Moses was loaned to ‘Liverpool’ for the 2013–2014 season, where he made his debut against ‘Swansea City’ in a 2–2 draw. He scored his first goal for ‘Liverpool’ in a 2–0 win over ‘Bournemouth’ in the ‘FA Cup.’

He switched to ‘Stoke City’ on loan in the next season and made his debut in a win against ‘Manchester City.’ He was criticized for falsely claiming a penalty against ‘Swansea City’ after falling due to a tackle by Angel Rangel, but he was later absolved of the charge. He suffered a few injuries during the season and had to sit out for a while, till he returned to play against ‘Leicester City.’ He again suffered a hamstring injury at the end of the season.

In 2015, his contract with ‘Chelsea’ was renewed till 2019. He played a few matches for the club and was loaned to ‘West Ham’ for the rest of the 2015–2016 season. He made his debut with the club in a match against ‘Newcastle United,’ in which he was named the ‘Man of the Match.’ He scored his only goal for ‘West Ham’ in a 1–2 win over ‘Manchester City.’

Having proved his skills while on loan, Moses returned to play for ‘Chelsea’ in the 2016–2017 season. He played his first league game for the club in a 2–1 win over ‘West Ham United.’ Chelsea adopted the 3–4–3 configuration and Moses found himself playing right-sided wing-back, from where he scored his second league goal of the season against ‘Leicester City.’ He represented ‘Chelsea’ against ‘Arsenal’ in the 2017 ‘FA Cup’ final, in which he was shown a red card for diving in the penalty area. He became the fifth player to be sent off the field in an ‘FA Cup’ final.

Moses has played for ‘Crystal Palace’ from 2007 to 2010, for ‘Wigan Athletic’ from 2010 to 2012, for ‘Liverpool’ from 2013 to 2014, for ‘Stoke City’ from 2014 to 2015, for ‘West Ham United’ from 2015 to 2016, and is currently with ‘Chelsea.’

He has played for the English ‘Under-16,’ ‘Under-17,’ ‘Under-19,’ and ‘Under-21’ teams from 2005 to 2010.

He has made 28 appearances for Nigeria since 2012 and has scored 10 goals.

He was the top goal-scorer in the 2007 ‘UEFA European U-17 Championship,’ for which he was awarded the ‘Golden Boot.’

In October 2012, while playing for ‘Chelsea’ in the ‘League Cup,’ he was named the ‘Man of the Match’ in a game against ‘Manchester United.’

He was again named the ‘Man of the Match’ while playing for ‘Stoke City’ against ‘Newcastle United.’

Moses is married to a British national named Josephine, with whom he has a son, Bentley, born in 2012, and a daughter, Nyah, born in 2015.

Moses has played for the ‘Under 16,’ the ‘Under 17,’ the ‘Under 19,’ and the ‘Under 21’ teams of England.

He played for Nigeria in the 2013 ‘Africa Cup of Nations’ and scored two penalties against Ethiopia in the finals to help his country win the tournament. He was also selected to play for his country in the 2014 ‘FIFA World Cup.’ However, they lost to France in the “Round of 16” match. He went on to score a brace for Nigeria against Algeria in a qualifying match for the ‘FIFA World Cup 2018,’ helping his team achieve a 3–1 victory.