TheCable

Chelsea right wingback Victor Moses says his hard work earned him nominations for the BBC African footballer of the year and the CAF African player of the year awards.

Moses was a major part of Chelsea’s title-winning season and was instrumental in Nigeria’s unbeaten run and eventual qualification for the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup.

He attributed his recognition to his contribution to the Chelsea squad and the national team.

“I must have done well,” Moses told Chelseafc.com.

“I have worked so hard to be among the nominees and I guess they saw that. I played a vital part in our league win, and I am pleased with the way things have been going recently.

“I am very proud and delighted. It’s been a great year for me so far. We won the league, we got to the FA Cup final. I really enjoyed the season last year and I’m very happy with how it went. I want to continue in that way.

“It would be great to win an award and be the best in Africa. It would mean a lot to me. It is something I would keep for the rest of my life, and it would be like a dream come true. We will see the outcome.

“It’s been great. A couple of years ago I didn’t play enough games for Nigeria because of injury, but this year has been an amazing year.

“In the first game in the World Cup qualifiers against Algeria I scored twice which was very good, and helped us get the three points.

“I’ve been playing further forward for Nigeria, in my natural position. I like to take the ball and attack defenders, but defensively I help out my full-back, too.

“It’s been a wonderful year, and now we have qualified for the World Cup. We have made the whole nation proud of us and that’s what we wanted to do. We’ve got an exciting team with some good young players. Come Russia, we will be ready to go.”