Asisat Oshoala: Keeps Blazing the Trail

When in 2011, Nigeria’s Perpetua Nkwocha won the African Women’s Player of the Year for the fourth time, many felt it was one achievement that would take decades to match, not to talk of overtaking it. Barcelona talisman, Asisat Oshoala has however proved everyone wrong as she on Thursday clinched the award an unprecedented fifth time

Asisat Oshoala on Thursday at the Caf Awards ceremony in Rabat, Morocco beat the duo of Cameroon and Inter Milan Ajara Nchout Njoya  and Zambia international Grace Chanda to the 2022 African Women’s Player of the Year.

The 27-year-old thus becomes the first African to win the prestigious award for a record five times, overtaking fellow Nigerian, Perpetua Nkwocha who claimed the accolade on four occasions.

The 2021-22 campaign was arguably Oshoala’s best yet as she played a key role in her Spanish side’s treble charge – the Spanish Women’s Super Cup, Copa de la Reina and the Primera Division.

Although she missed a couple of matches due to injury, that did not stop her from emerging as league joint-top scorer after netting 20 goals in 19 league appearances to share the award with Brazilian Geyse Ferreira, who managed the same number of goals in 27 appearances for Madrid CFF.

Since abandoning her education in pursuit of a football career, Nigerian international Asisat Oshoala has never looked back- it’s been one success story after another. This season, her game had been blighted by injury, reducing her game time to just 12 starts in 19 appearances. Not deterred, the Super Falcons striker not only helped Barcelona to win the league for the second time in a row but went on to win the Spanish Premiera Iberdrola Golden Boot, making her the first African to achieve the feat.

Oshoala had earlier won the Spanish Premiera Iberdrola golden boot following an impressive goalscoring season with champions Barcelona Femeni to become the first African woman to achieve the feat after scoring 20 goals in just 12 starts of all 19 league appearances.

The 27-year-old, who opened her season account with a brace in a 5-0 win over Real Betis on September 11, grabbed her 20th goal of the season in a 5-1 win against Sevilla on May 5.

The 20th goal of the season saw the Super Falcons star to level with Brazil’s Geyse of Madrid CFF, who failed to go further.

Despite being introduced as a 63rd minute substitute, the Nigerian could not add to her goal tally on final day’s 2-1 win against Atletico Madrid, but she still nicked her long-sought accolade, having played fewer matches (19) than Geyse (27).

The Nigerian captain was the highest goal scorer at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and was named the best player at the tournament. She was also named best player and second top goalscorer with the Super Falcons team who won the 2014 African Women’s Championship.

Indeed, World football governing body, FIFA hailed the Barcelona Femeni striker for winning the Pichichi with the Catalan club despite suffering a two-month injury spell.

“20 goals and a perfect club season.  Asisat Oshoala has always been unstoppable!,” FIFA wrote on their official Women’s World Cup page.

Oshoala has had a superb season, winning the league’s top scorer, and achieving a spotless league record.

Speaking on the award, Oshoala said: “It’s obviously been a team effort to get here, and l can only thank my team-mates and everyone at the club for this achievement. “We’ve been working hard all season and cannot stop now.”  Barcelona scored 159 goals in 30 games as they didn’t drop a single point. They conceded just 11 goals to establish their exceptional dominance.

Oshoala, 27, is Africa’s most decorated female footballer and becomes the first woman from the continent to claim Spain’s golden boot.

Oshoala scored 81 goals in 104 appearances for Barca, and has signed a deal to remain with the Spanish giants until the end of the2023-24 campaign.

She joined the Spanish outfit from Chinese champions Dalian Quanjian in January 2019, initially on loan, before agreeing a permanent switch five months later.

The former FC Robo and Rivers Angels star had moved to the Far East in February 2017 from English side Arsenal, with whom she won the Women’s FA Cup at Wembley in 2016.

She finished as the Chinese Women’s Super League top scorer in 2017 with 12 goals to help her club to the title same year.

Oshoala, who began her European career at Liverpool, won her third Women’s Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Falcons in Ghana in 2018, scoring three goals as Nigeria lifted the title for a ninth time.

Oshoala won the Confederation of African Football’s Women’s Player of the Year fourth time in 2020- equalling the record set by compatriot Nkwocha.

The maiden BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year winner helped Nigeria reach the last 16 at the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France and will be hoping to lead her country to qualification for the 2023 World Cup and a record-extending 10th Nations Cup title in Morocco in July.

Internationally, she contributed little as she did not score a single goal for the Super Falcons in the period under review.

To make things worse, she was ruled out of Women’s Africa Cup of Nations 2022 with Nigeria through injury after suffering a medial collateral ligament strain in the West African’s 2-1 defeat to South Africa in Rabat.

Oshoala is the fourth Nigerian to land the women’s version of the award, following in the footsteps of Mercy Akide  in 2001, Nkwocha in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011 and Cynthia Uwak  in 2006 and 2007.