Chelsea and Nigeria wide man Victor Moses has announced his retirement from international football aged 27.
Moses played 37 times, scoring 12 goals, for the Super Eagles – which included featuring at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups – and was part of the side who won the 2013 African Nations Cup.
He said in a statement posted on his official Twitter feed on Wednesday: “I would like to announce that after much thought I have made the decision to retire from playing international football.
“I have experienced some of the best moments of my life wearing the Super Eagles shirt and have memories with me that will last a lifetime. Nothing will ever compete (sic) to what it felt like to represent Nigeria on behalf of our country.
“However I feel that now is the right time to step away in order to be able to focus fully on (my) club career and my young family as well as to allow the next generation of Super Eagle stars the opportunity to step up and to flourish. We are blessed as a nation to have so many exciting young players coming through and now is their time.
“There are many highlights that stand out for me over the years; from making my debut, to playing in two World Cups and being part of the team to win the African Nations Cup for (the) first time for our nation since 1994 being just a few of them.”
Moses added: “I have already spoken to the manager (Gernot Rohr) by telephone and would like to say thank you to him and his staff, the NFF (Nigeria Football Federation) and all of my teammates for all of their support over the years.
“Most importantly, I would like to say thank you to the Nigerian people for believing in me and supporting me over the years. It’s meant the world to me and my family and I will always be a proud Nigerian supporting the team.
“Thank you for the memories and good luck to the team for the future.”
After representing England at various youth levels, including playing once for the under-21s, Moses made his Nigeria debut in 2012.
At the World Cup finals over the summer he played in all three of his country’s games as they made a group stage exit, scoring a penalty in the last of those, a 2-1 loss to Argentina.
Moses was selected for Nigeria’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and started in their opening group match and the Round of 16 match against France as they lost 2–0.
Upon Gernot Rohr’s assumption as Nigeria’s head coach in August 2016, Moses featured regularly in the FIFA 2018 qualifying matches. Moses scored a brace for Nigeria during a FIFA 2018 qualifying match against Algeria in November 2016, helping them secure a 3–1 victory.
There is no big deal in Victor Moses announcing his international retirement, according to former Nigeria midfielder Garba Lawal.
The 27-year-old pulled the curtain on his international career, six years after making his debut for the Super Eagles.
In a post on his Twitter account, Moses wrote about his service to his fatherland and the need to quit to focus on club and family commitments.
And with football fans thinking the retirement was hasty, the 44-year-old insists ‘it’s no big deal’ as the country is blessed with talented footballers.
“It’s not a big deal! that is his choice – he chose to play for Nigeria and now he has decided not to play,” Lawal told Goal.
“Is Victor Moses expecting us to beg him to play for the country? No one does that because Nigeria is such a big country with several talents.
“Every footballers’ dream is to play for his country and feature at international championships and if someone chooses otherwise, why not let him be?
“Kudos to Moses for his contributions and efforts, you cannot take that away from him but I think we must respect his decision.”