Tag: Simon

Nigeria international Moses Simon will be ruled out of action for some weeks following a successful ankle surgery, Nantes  manager Antoine Kombouaré has confirmed.

Simon, who has been persevering through the discomfort of a previous fibula fracture, has been a vital asset to Nantes this season, contributing four goals and five assists in 14 Ligue 1 appearances.

Kombouaré confirmed that Simon, along with three other players, will miss their Coupe de France round of 64 clash against Division 3 side JA Drancy due to injuries.

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“Moses Simon, with my approval, had surgery to remove the plate and screws from his ankle—his well-known procedure,” Kombouaré said in his pre-match press conference.

“He had been suffering a lot, far too much, so we took advantage of the timing to address it. The recovery timeline is approximately two weeks before he can rejoin the group.”

Super Eagles defender, Ola Aina was in the  thick of action for Nottingham Forest who Brighton to a 2-2  away draw at the Amex Stadium.

Aina was on for 90 minutes despite getting a yellow card in the 45th minute. The away draw has taken the Reds to the eighth spot with nine points from five games. 

The Nigerian’s compatriot, Taiwo Awoniyi on the bench for the duration of the game. 

In Spain, Chrisantus Uche was on for 67 minutes in Getafe’s 1-1 draw at home to Leganes. His replacement, Borja Mayoral scored his team’s equaliser from the spot in the 83rd minute. It was Getafe’s fourth draw of the season.

In Italy, Super Eagles Goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye was beaten thrice as Udinese fell 3-0 in the capital city to AS Roma.

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 Udinese were atop the Serie A table before the start of the game but they have fallen to the third spot with  10 points. It was the Zebras’ first loss of the season. 

Kingsley Ehizibue is a Nigeria eligible who has hinted he is available to play for the Super Eagles though currently a Dutch whom he represented at youth level. He also plays for Udinese and was available for 90 minutes. 

In France, George Ilenikhena provided the assist for Folarin Balogun as Monaco beat Le Havre 3-1 barely few days after the Nigerian scored the matchwinner for his French side in the Uefa Champions League against Barcelona.

Ilenikhena joined Monaco from Belgian club, Genk in the summer and has played in six games in all competitions scoring one goal and creating an assist. He was replaced in the 87th  minute.

In another French Ligue One game, Nantes got a 1-1 at Angers to move to the fifth spot with eight points from five games. The Yellow and Green got their goal through Moses Simon’s assist in the 18th minute. It was the Super Eagles winger’s second assist of the season. He has two goals also from five games. 

Former Flying Eagles star, Akor Adams notched his third goal of the season for Montpellier including the match-winning goal for his side against Auxerre. Adams scored twice for Montpellier to help his club to their first win of the season. 

His fellow compatriot, Gabriel Osho recorded his fifth game of the season for Auxerre in the game.

In Turkey, Kasimpasa were held to a goalless draw at home by Antalyaspor with their Super Eagles defender, Kenneth Omeruo unavailable. Omeruo has only played four games for Kasimpasa this season.

In another Turkish Super Lig tie, Ibrahim Olawoyin was on the losing side with Rizespor who were beaten 1-0 by Samsunspor yesterday. Olawoyin has played in his club’s all six games this season.

Super Eagles winger Moses Simon has been named the Nantes Player of the Month for August, adding to his impressive return to form after a long injury layoff, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Nigerian international clinched the award following a strong start to the Ligue 1 season, scoring crucial goals for his club.

Nantes confirmed Simon’s achievement on their official website, stating:

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 “You have designated Moses Simon, scorer against AJ Auxerre and on the Mosson pitch in Montpellier, as the ‘Canary of the Month’ for August 2024!”

The 28-year-old forward earned 43% of the fan votes, finishing ahead of teammates Alban Lafont, Matthis Abline, and Nathan Zézé.

Simon will officially receive his award ahead of Nantes’ next home match against Stade de Reims on Sunday, September 15, 2024.

His strong start to the season follows a difficult period where he was sidelined for the second half of the last campaign due to injury.

Moses Simon will undergo surgery for a fractured left leg ankle injury today, his French Ligue 1 club have disclosed.

The FC Nantes winger suffered the injury on Super Eagles duty against Mali Tuesday in Marrakesh, Morocco.

A bad collision with Mali goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa   left the attacker unable to continue past the 34th  minute in Nigeria’s 2-0 loss.

Providing an update  on its website , Simon’s French Ligue 1 side, FC Nantes  noted that  Simon  was ‘released shortly after the half-hour mark last night during the friendly match between Mali and Nigeria (2-0) while subsequent examinations confirmed a fracture of the fibula’.

With over 150 matches under his belt in Nantes’ colour, Simon is one of the most experienced  players at the French  club. This season, he has scored three goals in 22 Ligue 1 appearances.

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This injury setback  means  Simon  will not be available  for the  Super Eagles’ crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin in June.

His absence is also a big  blow for Nantes, who are battling to escape relegation this season.

He is one of the team’s major attacking weapons having scored three goals and provided six assists thus far.

Simon only recently signed a new three-year contract with the club with his initial contract due to end this summer.

FC Nantes striker Moses Simon will expectedly miss  the rest of the season after being injured in Nigeria’s  international friendly match against Mali on Tuesday night in Marrakech, Morocco.

The injury is not only a blow to the 28-year-old forward, but also for coach Antoine Kombouaré who will now be without one of his key attacking threats for the rest of the season.

A bad collision with Mali goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa left the attacker unable to continue past the 34^th  minute in Nigeria’s 2-0 loss.

Providing an update on its website, Simon’s French’s Ligue 1 side, FC Nantes, noted that Simon was released shortly after the half-hour mark last night during the friendly match between Mali and Nigeria (2-0), Moses Simon was seriously injured following a collision with the Malian goalkeeper. Simon was quickly evacuated on a stretcher. The Nantes striker was immediately transported to hospital for treatment.

 “Subsequent examinations confirmed a fracture of the fibula. His unavailability is unfortunately estimated at several months,” the club added in a statement, saying  he would be provided with full support while wishing him a speedy recovery!

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With over 150 matches under his belt in Nantes’ colour, Simon is one of the most experienced players at the French club. This season, he has scored three goals in 22 Ligue 1 appearances.

A full international since March 2015, the Mali match was his 69^th  cap for Nigeria.

This injury setback means  Simon will not be available  for the  Super Eagles’ crucial 2026 World Cup qualifiers against South Africa and Benin in June.

Yet according to Transfer Market, this would not be the first time that Simon would be blighted by long injury  lay-off in his career after he was forced out for 52 days  with a ligament injury in the 2017/2018 while at Gent in  the Belgian League.

It would also be recalled that  injury forced him out of the Super Eagles’ squad to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Super Eagles winger Moses Simon has said there is no pressure on Super Eagles to beat Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in today’s round of 16 clash.

During a pre-match press conference in Abidjan, Simon said that Cameroon’s game is like any other match they have played at the tournament, adding that they are poised for victory.

“We are not under pressure to play against Cameroon. We feel really good and we take it game by game. We will take the game against Cameroon with the same energy and winning mentality,” Simon said.

He added: “We will approach the game the same way we have been played our previous games. At the end of every game, we look at our performance and we identified were we can improve individually and collectively.”

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Simon also urged Nigerians not to put too much pressure on Osimhen, stressing that Super Eagles is not about individual player.

“In the first game we played well but we didn’t score more goals, the second game, we tried and scored one goal and the third game, we missed chances. I know we have the best striker in the world victor Osimhen. Anyone can miss chance, I missed chances. So people not put pressure on Osimhen. It’s all about team not Osimhen. Win, lose or draw, it’s all about team. If its half goal, it must enter and we must win,” he said.