My father said I should join the army if football didn't work out, Moses Simon

Super Eagles winger Moses Simon has shared that his father wanted him to join the army if he didn’t succeed in football. He said his dad warned him about this in an interview with Urban Well Sports published on Thursday. Simon reflected on the tough journey that made him one of Nigeria’s longest-serving international players.

The Paris FC forward mentioned that his father, a retired soldier, believed in discipline and independence. He made it clear that staying idle at home was not an option.
“My father said I’d have to join the military if I didn’t make it in football.
“He said a son who refuses to leave home is no son of a soldier. Soldiers don’t stay home,” Simon recalled.

He shared that this warning pushed him to keep going during tough times, like when he faced rejection from several Nigerian clubs and a failed move to Ajax. Despite these challenges, he was determined to succeed. His big break came when Dutch coach Tonnie Bruins Slot, also known as Coach Bors, came to Kaduna to recruit him.

Simon remembered that the coach gave him ₦200,000 even before he signed a contract. He called that money life-changing.
“The money he gave me was ₦200,000, plus ₦40,000 for transport. This was 2013, and it was worth much more then.
“I remember thinking, this man really means business. My father’s house cost ₦150,000, and here someone was handing me more than that,” he said.

He went home right away to ask his father for his blessing before heading abroad.
“I took the money home and told my father what they had given me, though I didn’t mention the extra ₦40,000.
“He wasn’t home at the time because he was still working even after retirement, earning about ₦5,000 a month. Here was his son with ₦200,000,” he said.

The 29-year-old said he had trouble sleeping that night because he was amazed by the amount of money.
“That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept the money under my pillow until morning.
“When my father came home and I told him everything, he said the money was mine to decide what to do with. But since I was travelling, we should keep some aside in case anything happened and I needed to come back home,” he said.

Looking back on his father’s advice, Simon said the retired soldier now enjoys a much easier life than he does.
“I think he’s better off than me now.
“He has no stress, no pressure. I think I carry more responsibility than he does now,” he said with a laugh.

Simon concluded that his journey from the Kaduna barracks to professional football in Europe taught him that hard work and discipline eventually bring rewards, even after many setbacks.