Eko Hot Blog reports that Nigerian international Terem Moffi and Moses Simon will hope to become the third Nigerian to win the Marc-Vivien Foe award for the best African player in the French Ligue 1 after both of them were nominated for the 2023/24 honours which will be presented on May 13.
The award organised by Radio France International and France 24, the award is named after Cameroonian icon and ex-Lens and Lyon midfielder, Marc-Vivien Foe, who tragically passed away during the 2003 FIFA Confederation Cup match between Cameroon and Colombia in Lyon on June 26, 2003.
Victor Osimhen (2019/20) and former Eagles goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama (2013/14) stand out as the sole Nigerians to clinch the award, which was established in 2009.
Moffi’s nomination stems from his remarkable achievement of scoring 50 goals in Ligue 1, highlighted by his recent goal in Nice’s 2-1 defeat at home against Nantes on Sunday.
Terem Moffi in action for Nice
He spearheads the club’s quest for European football next season with his exceptional goal-scoring prowess, tallying 10 goals in 23 appearances and ranking seventh in the league.
Despite Simon’s season being curtailed by an injury sustained during the previous international break, he has proven to be indispensable for Nantes, contributing three goals and six assists in 22 Ligue 1 matches.
Among the other nine nominees vying for this season’s award are 2013 victor Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Gabon (Marseille), Algerian pair Nabil Bentaleb (Lille) and Amine Gouiri (Stade Rennes), Morocco’s PSG standout Achraf Hakimi, and Senegal’s Lamine Camara (Metz).
Moses Simon in action for FC Nantes
Also in contention are last season’s champion Chancel Mbemba from DR Congo (Marseille), Oumar Diakite from Ivory Coast (Reims), Moffi’s teammate Youssouf Ndayishimiye from Burundi (Nice), and Ivory Coast’s Wilfried Singo from Monaco, bringing the nation’s nominations to two.
Mbemba won the 2022/23 award, which has been mostly won by Ivorian players who clinched it on five occasions.
In 2014, Enyeama, during his time at Lille, made history as the first Nigerian to clinch the award, surpassing Ivory Coast defender Serge Aurier, then representing Toulouse, and Lyon’s Cameroonian defender Henri Bedimo.
The goalkeeper went on an impressive streak of 1,062 minutes without conceding a goal in Ligue 1 at that time.
In 2020, at the age of 21 years and six months, Osimhen also etched his name in history as the second Nigerian and the youngest player to win the award. The striker notched 13 goals and provided four assists in 27 Ligue 1 matches, outperforming Algeria’s Islam Slimani and Morocco’s Yunis Abdelhamid.
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