Time and time again, Terem Moffi, the OGC Nice’s Nigeria international striker, has proved that he can score goals in anybody’s company. Totalling over 180 goals across clubs in Lithuania, Belgium and France, the 24-year-old, who last weekend scored a landmark 50th goal in the French Ligue 1, shared the joy of the moment in an exclusive conversation with Sports Editor, MORAKINYO ABODUNRIN
OGC Nice’s Nigeria international striker Terem Moffi believes his 50th goal in the French Ligue has given him a sense of accomplishment even as he looks forward to scoring more for both club and country – despite that fleeting showmanship at the last Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.
Though weaned on the streets of Calabar, Moffi has left no one in doubt about his proficiency in front of the goalposts since he began his adventure in Europe in Lithuania, first with Kauno Zalgiris, from where he eventually joined Riteriai. He would score 20 goals in 29 leagues games for Riteriai before being transferred to Belgian club Kortrijk in January 2020, and scored an impressive five goals in just nine games en route the French Ligue 1 side Lorient on 1st October 2020.
With Lorient, Moffi cracked 34 goals in 87 Ligue 1 games (35 goals in 90 games in all competitions) before moving to Nice on the last day of the January Transfer Window in 2023. In his first season (2022/23) with Nice, he scored just six goals in 16 Ligue 1 matches but has scored an impressive 10 goals in 23 Ligue 1 games in the ongoing campaign.
Last weekend, he scored his 10th goal of the season and his fourth since returning from the AFCON 2023 where he helped the Super Eagles to win the silver medal, but that particular goal in a shock 2-1 home loss to relegation-threatened FC Nantes was significantly his 50th since he arrived in the French League.
“Though, I am not the first Nigerian to reach this mark (50th) in the French league because I have read reports that John Utaka scored 59 goals while Victor Ikpeba scored 55,” the meticulous 24-year-old Moffi told Nation Sports in an exclusive interview. “How does it make me feel? It gives me a feeling of accomplishment, especially as I am being mentioned along with great names like John Utaka and Victor Ikpeba.
“Having said this, I will like to point out that I didn’t even realise that I was approaching the fifty goal mark until the eve of the game when my eldest brother told me on phone to go and make it fifty. I didn’t understand what he was driving at.
“He had to explain that I had forty-nine goals going into last weekend’s game.”
Incidentally, Moffi has been in a rich vein of form with an impressive four goals in six Ligue 1 matches since after the 2023 AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, where he sat out most of the matches until that semi-finals against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
“Secret (of scoring goals)?” the 24-year-old in his usual frankness asked rhetorically. “There is no secret.
“The difference is that during the AFCON I hardly had playing time. I had less than fifteen minutes playing time throughout. If what happened after I was introduced into the semi-final game against South Africa didn’t happen, very few people would have remembered that I even played in the AFCON.
“I am talking about the red card issued to the South African defender after he hacked me down to prevent me from scoring what could possibly have been the winning goal and the first penalty I opted to take and scored for the team during the penalty shootout.
“In contrast, in my club I play week after week and get the chances to score and I score. There is therefore no secret but a matter of opportunity,” noted a fond admirer of both Chelsea’s Ivorian legend Didier Drogba and former Arsenal and Manchester United’s Dutch striker, Robin Van Persie.
For anyone who saw Moffi during his formative years, especially when he competed for a spot in the national U-17 team with the likes of Napoli forward and African Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen, and Milan’s Samuel Chukwueze, it’s not a surprise that he has turned out to be crafty as a fox in front of the goalposts because his scoring intelligence is indeed second to none amongst his contemporaries.
“Growing up, I had great admiration for Didier Drogba and Robin Van Persie and I wanted to be like them; they inspired me a lot,” he further said.“As for Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe, these are great players and I have a lot of respect for them. I have played against Messi and Mbappe a number of times while for Ronaldo our paths have never crossed. They all remain players that rank among the very best.”
As some said, no two strikers are the same and different strikers have different drives behind their proficiency as such Moffi is not an exemption to the rule as he claimed scoring goals makes him feel like a lion.
“What motivates me is simply the joy I give the fans when I score and when we win games, be it at club or national team level,” he explained. “No feeling equals hearing the fans screaming your name or you hear your name over the stadium loud speakers.
“This kind of turns you into a lion,” he affirmed as he exhaled on the performance of the Super Eagles at the 2023 AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire.
He continued: “Before the AFCON, very few people gave us a chance and that was understandable. Even we the players knew we were not getting it right and we were determined to improve. The coaches worked hard and found a formula that gave the team stability.
“We got our bearing and made it to the final. We were disappointed that we did not win the final game but we appreciate the government and people of Nigeria who celebrated us even after we came out second best.
“As for my personal performance, with the little playing time I got I forced the South Africans to get a red card and that took away the pressure we were under before that. I went ahead to score in the penalty shootout, which we won and for two weeks that modest contribution to our victory was trending online. I can never forget that best (part),” he disclosed.
Noted for his likeable personality and humane disposition, Moffi is not unmindful of the importance of the national honours bestowed on him and his Super Eagles teammates after the second-place finish at the AFCON, adding that it has placed on them additional responsibilities.
“National honours are not honours that people get every day; they are not commonplace,” he noted. “They are very significant. While they can open doors for people who are so honoured, they also place responsibility on the person honoured.
“I see myself as an ambassador of the country, not just on the football field but off it. It is an honour I treasure very much together with the land and house promised by the government.
“It is a call for the entire team to work harder and win bigger laurels for the country.”
Yet Moffi has his own personal targets both on and off the field as he sets his eyes on playing in some other hallowed grounds in Europe as well as helping the not-so-privileged in his native Ogoja, in the northern part of Cross Rivers State in Nigeria.
“The English league holds a special attraction for me,” the former apprentice at the Buckswood Football Academy at Hastings, East Sussex, further told NationSport. “When I was growing up back in Nigeria, we followed the English league and supported one team or the other.
“It is still the same situation today. I also like the other big European leagues. I am a realist and believe that where I go after Nice will depend on the circumstances of the time.”
Though enjoying cosy living and cosmopolitan outlook in France, Moffi is not oblivious of the circumstances of his ‘poor cousins’ consequently he has instituted a medical outreach to cater for their welfare.
“The medical outreach has come to stay and it will be a yearly thing,” he assured. “That is the least we can do in memory of my grandfather, who himself was also a footballer.
“Many people do not know that I am a third generation footballer in my family. After my grandfather who played for his alma mater, Mary Knoll College, Ogoja, and for the Ogoja Town Team, then known as The Rangers, my father played for his University and professionally in the Nigerian league (Rangers International of Enugu).
“The main reason for this outreach is to keep the flame of reaching out to others burning. My grandfather in his life time raised and trained over eighty children who were not his children.
“My dad and mom are continuing with that trend. I believe my grandfather deserves the honour we are giving unto him,” adding that his immediate family is certainly his most prized possession.
He disclosed: “Nothing makes me happier than seeing people around me happy. That thing that will make me cry is the thing that hurts my family. I can go to any length to confront anything that threatens their well-being.”
While some of his Super Eagles teammates have settled down into marital life, Moffi still keeps that aspect of his life close to his chest, saying the world will indeed know when he will tie the proverbial knots.
“When the time comes for the wedding bells, you will be one of the first to hear,” he sounded.
