Asisat Oshoala is currently the face of Nigerian women’s football and a force to be reckoned with. The 25-year-old is well on her way to becoming a legend in the sport and is already breaking records. She recently won her first trophy in Barcelona Femeni and her 7th Club title. She is a source of inspiration to millions all over the world, and particularly Nigeria. Here is everything you should know about this icon making a name for herself and lifting the Nigerian brand:
1. Asisat Oshoala was born on October 9, 1994, in Ikorodu, Lagos.
2. She has always been athletic and started playing football along with her male friends in secondary school. She told FIFA in 2015 that, “I was always into sport and was an athlete at first. I used to run home from school. I then started playing football with my friends and classmates. Mainly boys and that is when I became really interested.”
3. She dropped out of school to focus on football and subsequently lost the support of her parents. Still speaking to FIFA in 2015, she said, “ I also did not have the support of my parents, who did not want me to play. It was only when they noticed that I was serious that they started supporting me.”
4. She kicked off her career in Mushin as a part of the FC Robo team before she moved to FC Rivers International.
5. In 2013, she moved to Rivers Angels in Port Harcourt, where she led her team to the Women’s Federations Cup title in 2013 and 2014. She also supported the team to win the Nigeria Women Football League title in 2014.
6. She joined the Falconets in 2010, but it wast until her second time at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup that she made a name for herself.
7. In 2014, at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada, she finished as the top scorer and was named the best player of the tournament. That same year, she earned herself the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Golden Boot and ball.
8. 2014 was a career-defining year for Asisat as she also won the titles of African Women’s Championship Golden Ball, African Women’s Footballer of the Year, African Women’s Youth Player of the Year, and Queen of the Pitch award.
9. She also received the title of Member of the Order of the Niger from President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014.
10. On 23 January 2015, Oshoala joined Liverpool Ladies. The manager at the time, Matt Beard called her, “one of the best young players in the world.”
11. In May 2015, she won the inaugural BBC’s women’s player of the year award.
12. In June 2015, Asisat created a name for herself on the Super Falcons team at the Women’s World Cup in Canada. She scored the second goal in a match between Nigeria and Sweden. The match ended as a tie, with both sides scoring three goals.
13. In January 2016, she moved to Arsenal FC but the move did not go as well as she had hoped. She told Guardian, “Before the new season Arsenal came in for me and I thought: ‘I haven’t played for the second half of the season and the top team wants me.’ I had to take a chance and go there. It was good initially but I had a few issues.”
14. Despite her issues in Arsenal, she still joined the team to snag the FA Women’s Cup in 2016 and was named the African Women’s Footballer of the Year.
15. She made a bold decision to move to Dalian Quanjian FC in China after a few slow years in the European league.
16. Contrary to popular opinion, Asisat Oshola thrived in the Chinese Super League winning two league titles in 2017 and 2018 for her club and emerging top scorer in the league. She said, “At the end of the day it has been a great move for me. I had to put in a lot of work. I worked harder because I had to prove people wrong”.
17. After a fantastic year in the Chinese Super League, she copped her third CAF African Women’s Footballer of the Year award in 2017.
18. In 2019, she moved to Barcelona on loan but after scoring eight goals in 11 games, the club decided to sign her for two years.
19. In January, she won her fourth CAF African Women’s Footballer of the Year award, matching Perpetua Nkwocha’s record of four-time winner.
20. In Barcelona, Asisat Oshoala continues to play wonderful football, helping her team win the Super Cup final on February 9 with two goals. Just yesterday, she scored another two goals in the Copa de la Reina match against Huelva, taking her team to the quarter-finals.
