Femi Solaja with agency report
Three-time African Footballer of the Year recipient and Super Falcons of Nigeria forward, Asisat Oshoala, was delighted to be the first African footballer to score a goal in the final match of Women version of UEFA Champions League played last Saturday in Budapest, Hungary.
Oshoala, a loanee from Dalian Quanjian in China has been a star player for the Femeni FC Barcelona side in the ongoing season but sadly lost 1-4 to defending champion of UEFA Champions League side FC Lyon of France.
The French side, on record have won the trophy four time in a row and this season did not lose any match thus making them the overwhelming favourite to win the cup again.
But yesterday on her Instagram page, the Nigerian star player took time to appreciate the consolatory goal she scored in the 88th minute to give Barcelona a consolation in the 1-4 defeat.
“I would like to appreciate this moment as the first ever Nigeria/African player to play in a UEFA Women’s Champions League final game and first ever Nigerian/African player to score in final game and first to score FC Barcelona first UEFA Champions League final goal. “I promise to keep rapping this flag (Nigeria).#NoLimit#
Six hours after the post, Oshoala with 365k followers has had 17,688 likes and comments for the expression.
In the match on Saturday, first time finalists, FC Barcelona almost led early on through Lionesses forward Toni Duggan, but after she fired narrowly wide, Lyon ruthlessly netted four times before the break.
Lyon continued their remarkable European dominance as Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg’s first-half hat-trick against Barcelona helped the French giants secure a fourth consecutive Women’s Champions League title.
Former Liverpool and Arsenal forward Oshoala netted a late consolation for the Catalan club but they could do nothing to stop Lyon claiming a sixth European crown in eight years.
Having secured a 13th consecutive French league title in April, the French club were playing in their eighth European final since 2010, after a 3-2 aggregate win over Chelsea in the semi-finals.
The best-funded side on the continent wrapped up the latest of their 23 major honours of this decade before half-time, largely thanks to Hegerberg’s clinical treble.
The 23-year-old made history as she became the first player to net a hat-trick in a Women’s Champions League final since the competition’s rebranding in 2010.
The Netherlands winger Shanice Van de Sanden’s pace down Lyon’s right created the game’s first two goals, as she crossed for Germany’s Dzsenifer Marozsan for the opener and then similarly for Hegerberg.
Amel Majri then squared the ball in the area for Hegerberg’s second, before Bronze’s whipped right-wing cross met the striker’s run perfectly to complete her 16-minute treble inside the first half hour.
The result saw Bronze who helped Lyon win last year’s final and Fishlock both earn the second European titles of their careers, although the Wales midfielder missed 2015’s final with German club Frankfurt because her loan spell from Seattle had ended.
Meanwhile, FC Barcelona President, Josep Maria Bartomeu was proud of the team’s achievement and particularly delighted with the consolatory goal scored by Oshoala as a soul lifting for the team club in the years to come.
“You have marked a path. Reaching this final has already been extraordinary. We will return again! Congratulations!” He twitted after the match on Saturday.
Oshoala, who is an integral part of Nigeria’s national team for many years is expected to bring her form with the Spanish side this season to play when the Super Falcons aim to make a mark at the forth coming FIFA Women’s World Cup finals which gets underway from June 7th in France.
