Another step towards the final, or even the World Cup? Nigeria's Super Falcons have qualified for the round of 16 of the Women's World Cup, where they will face England on Monday, August 7, in Brisbane, Australia. The Nigerian women's team, the best on the continent, had already had a good campaign during the 2019 World Cup in France, before being eliminated in the round of 16.
Once again, the dispute started with good omens, with a victory against Australia (3-2), and two draws against Canada (0-0) and Ireland (0-0). Nigeria owes this success in particular to Asisat Oshoala. The striker is undoubtedly the best player in the group – she has 29 goals for the national team – and her ability as FC Barcelona's top scorer fuels the hopes of Nigerian fans.
Football and nothing else
Asisat Oshoala was born on October 9, 1994 in Ikorodu, a crowded suburb in Lagos, within a Yoruba Muslim family. His father, Alhaji, is a polygamist. It was with one of his wives, Alhaja, that he had Asisat. She also has five siblings. If many of her teammates grew up in a certain precariousness, she, on the contrary, had a relatively comfortable childhood.
Their parents, traders in areas as diverse as fashion and gold, are thus able to finance the studies of several of their children at the University of Lagos. Young Asisat was also promised to follow the same path and then join the family business. This is without taking into account his burning desire to pursue a professional career in football, much to the consternation of his parents.
At the age of 15, Asisat Oshoala decided to dedicate his life to football. Known for her assertive character, the football player began her career with two local clubs, Robo Queens and Rivers Angels. It is in the latter, based in Port-Harcourt, that a young striker, far from his family, stands out for accumulating goals and titles (a championship and a cup), and earning a few naira. English Liverpool decided to transfer her in 2015.
Europe-China, a winning round trip
Still playing in his country, Asisat Oshoiala played in the U20 World Cup in Canada in 2014, a prosperous year for a young player. Nigeria reached the final that year against Germany, and the striker finished as the competition's top scorer, with seven goals scored. Still in 2013, she won the African Cup of Nations with team A. She scored four goals and was, once again, voted the best player in the competition. Presentations that do not go unnoticed in Europe, and particularly in England.
First at Liverpool, then at Arsenal, Oshoala did not fully establish himself. In 2017, he decided to enroll in China, in Dalian Quanjian. Your career Yes take on another dimension. She makes more money there, plays regularly. And he scores a lot of goals. Enough so that in 2018 Europeans will once again turn their gaze to it. That year, FC Barcelona asked him to return to the Old Continent. After a year in Asia, Asisat Oshoala is once again packing her bags and heading to Spain.
“Seedorf”
The best team in Africa, Nigeria has won the CAN eleven times, including three with Oshoala in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Among other collective titles, the footballer, one of the most successful African players collectively, has won two championships and two Champions Leagues with FC Barcelona, an FA Cup with Arsenal and a Chinese championship.
On an individual level, the one nicknamed “Seedorf”, in honor of the former Dutch international and former Cameroonian coach Clarence Seedorf, was voted the best African player five times. In 2015, the BBC awarded her the Best Player in the World award and led the ranking of Spain's top scorers in 2021-2022.
A goal against Sweden (3-3) in 2015, another against South Korea in 2019 and a third in the victory against Australia (3-2) on July 27: Asisat Oshoala achieved the performance of scoring a goal in each final stage of the World Cup, which no African woman had done before her. She can still hope to improve her stats against England, and even more so, if the Super Falcons win.
Asisat Oshoala, very popular in his country, sees his notoriety far beyond the borders of Nigeria. In 2014, the attacker was awarded the Order of Nigeria by Goodluck Jonathan, then President of the Republic. A celebrity who puts at the service of the foundation he created in 2019, whose main mission is to promote the empowerment of African footballers, and mostly sub-Saharan.
