'It took me 45 minutes to respond' - Lorient star admits being shocked when contacted by Rohr

Lorient striker Terem Moffi has admitted that he was pleasantly shocked to be contacted by Nigeria manager Gernot Rohr with a view to a call-up to the Super Eagles after netting his first hat-trick in the French Ligue 1 against Bordeaux in April 2021.

Rohr kept his word by including Moffi in his finalized squad for the two friendlies against Cameroon this month and handed him a debut off the bench in the 1-0 loss to the Indomitable Lions last Friday.

It was only a matter of time before the 22-year-old earned international recognition as he has caught the eye since moving to the French Ligue 1 from the Belgian First Division A last October.

"It was after the Bordeaux game, I scored a hat-trick, my phone was buzzing with messages," Moffi told the Super Eagles Media Team. 

"I looked at my WhatsApp and I saw a message from Gernot Rohr, I couldn't reply to the message instantly, I took a screenshot, sent to my family group chat, I was like what do I say because it was really, really, really surprising.

"He's the Super Eagles coach, it's not everybody who has the opportunity to get a message from the coach or a call-up in that way.

"I was really excited and it was really good to be honest."

Moffi admitted that it took him up to forty-five minutes to give Rohr a response and that was after consulting with members of his family.

He continued : "It took me about 45 minutes to give him a response, I thanked him and told him it's an honour to get a message from him and I will really like to play for my nation, said he's looking forward to seeing me, and I said the same here. It was incredible".

On his international debut, Moffi replaced Paul Onuachu in the 66th minute of Friday's loss to Cameroon.

Igho Kingsley