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| The RISE... |
"I
worked hard last year but I am surprised to be nominated. I feel very
appreciated and I give God the glory,"
That
was the expression of a 20 year old who has been nominated by the BBC for the inaugural
BBC Women's Player of the Year award amongst heavyweights in her field......
......Our
very own Asisat Oshoala.
I
detailed a piece on why she is arguably one of the top female players of all
time in Nigeria. Thanks to the BBC, they've assisted my cause for championing
her inclusion. The top five nominees for this maiden Women's Player of the Year
award are some of the hottest on the scene right now; Five time FIFA Ballon
D'or winner from Brazil- (the age defying) Marta, Current FIFA Ballon D'or
Winner from Germany -Nadine Kessler, The Spanish female equivalent to Xavi and
Iniesta in Veronica Boquete, Scottish Midfielder and last season's US women's
National League MVP - Kim Little and of course Asisat Oshoala aka Super Zee. At least 3 of these including
Oshoala will be at the Women's World Cup in Canada.
With
all these Superstars lined up, exactly how does Asisat stand a chance?
Here
is Why..
1) Age:
In
the real world, ''age is nothing but a number'' going by the well known quote
but in football, it is the currency with which football operates these days -
just note how much a 25 year old defender will be transferred for in comparison
to a 35 year old defender-. With this factor, Asisat tops the list. Kim Little
of Scotland is aged 24, Marta of Brazil is 29 years of age, Boquete of Spain is
a 28 year old midfielder while Nadine Kessler of Germany turned 27 this month.
Asisat is 20 years and set the world alight last year at 19! 19 years of age is
a remarkably young age to accomplish such feat in one calendar year; a
testament to her incredulous quality. Therefore, youth should be rewarded.
2)
An Unbelievable 2014:
Asisat
made her debut for the national team in 2013 but it was 2014 that blazoned this
tigress. The Liverpool Ladies star featured in the U20 Women's World Cup in Canada
and it wasn't long before she began to stun. Scoring 4 goals in one single match;
an exquisite semi final fixture, that set the stage for Asisat to score a total
of seven goals and finish as the top goal scorer of the tournament. She was
awarded the Golden Boot gong, a prestigious accolade that has been won by the
likes of Christine Sinclair of Canada, Sydney Leroux of the USA and Alexandra
Popp of Germany. She topped that by being the revelation of the tournament and
carting away the Golden Ball, another exclusive club that consists of the trio
named above and of course, the female Pele, the legend -Marta.....you remember
her? Albeit a silver medalist, that was just the beginning of a jaw dropping
season. Two months later, Asisat alongside Desire Oparanozie fired the Super
Falcons to its seventh Africa Women's Championship crown and the prolific
forward won the Golden Ball award. She was just a goal shy of equaling the record
with eventual Golden Boot winner, Desire Oparanozie who scored five goals to
Asisat's' four. Back on home soil, Asisat helped Rivers Angels clinch the National
Women's League title as well as the Federation Cup. It didn't just stop there.
Oshoala dominated the headlines at end of the calendar year where she won the African Player of the
Year award alongside Yaya Toure and Africa's Youth Player of the year. She capped
it off in 2015 with a well publicised move to Liverpool Ladies Football Club;
the reigning FA Women's Super League Champions which is equivalent to the
English Premier League for Men.
Deserved
Winner yet?
Let's
move on....
3) Success Scale for other nominees:
Teeing up
with the previous point, 2014 was a monumental year for Oshoala but how did the
other nominees fare?
- Nadine
Kessler had dazzled the world in 2013 by leading Germany to glory at the European
Championships,
instrumental to Germany's World Cup qualification and goal scorer at the 2013/2014
UEFA Women's Champions league final for Wolfsburg (which they won). This led to
a deserving Ballon D'or triumph. However, Kessler has been plagued with
injuries since the tail end of 2014. A knee surgery slated for March 2015 ended
her season with Wolfsburg and has effectively put her out of the Women's World
Cup in June (making it a back to back blow after missing the 2011 World Cup on
home; Theo Walcott in disguise?).
- Kim Little who has been dubbed the 'Little
Magician' ( and yes, she has a low Hazardesque center of gravity) is a Scotland International and a former
Hibernian and Arsenal player, who currently plays for Seattle Reign in the
United States. She has made 28 appearances and has scored 16 goals for the club. In 2014, she was
voted the National Women's Soccer League's Most Valuable Player and Top Scorer.
She also led Scotland to a fourth place finish at the 2015 Algarve Cup (Women's
football premier invitational tournament) but her maestro was not enough to get Scotland to
the mundial in Canada as they lost in the qualifying play offs thus putting her
at a disadvantage.
-
Veronica Boquete who plied her trade for clubs such as Espanyol, Tyreso FF and Portland
Thorns, is a Spanish attacking midfielder. She lost the UEFA Women's Champions
league final to VFL Wolfsburg in the 2013/2014 season playing alongside Marta
and Caroline Seger for Swedish club Tyreso. She joined US based club Portland
Thorns soon after but moved to current club, FFC Frankfurt in Germany where she
is on course to clinch her maiden UEFA Women's Champions league medal (they
face PSG in the finals May 14 2015 in Berlin) as well as a Bundesliga title for
the 2014/2015 season.Vero stirred her team to their first European Championship
appearance (EURO 2013) in 16 years where they reached the quarter finals. They
have also made it to their maiden World Cup appearance after remaining unbeaten
in the qualifying campaign. Nonetheless, Boquete who just seems to be peaking
in her late 20s' has a lot to prove come June 2015 as her Spanish team has just
risen to World recognition.
- Marta Vieira da Silva or simply Marta is a Brazilian soccer star and one
of the faces of Women's football worldwide, in the last decade. This World Cup
runner up is the first and only player (male and female category combined) to
have won the FIFA Ballon D'or award five times; one she did consecutively
between 2006-2010. The 29 year old who played for the Western New York Flash
and a Champions league runner up with Tyreso FF (2013/2014 season) currently
plays for Rosengard of Sweden and has scored four goals in seven appearances.
It is apparent that Marta is on this list based on past achievements both for
club(s) and country:
Six Swedish
league titles, two WPS Championships, 2014 Champions League runner-up, 2007
World Cup runner-up, 2004 and 2008 Olympic silver medallist and the
Individual honours add to that. Marta is an A-List football star and is
virtually on every Women's Football Merit list due to the fact that she is
still active. But in all honesty, she hasn't done much in 2014-2015 (except
lead Brazil to their 7th World Cup appearance) to give much worry albeit the
fact that she is a worldwide sensation and this award will be decided by
public votes, makes her one of the favourites. Realistically, she's won way
too many awards coupled with her perennial 'runner up' status when it comes
to world titles and this puts her right back at a disadvantage.
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4) History in the Making: No African has
made the final shortlist for the Women's Player of the Year award by any
prestigious organization. With America, Europe and South America making all the
splash on the world scene, this is an immense opportunity for history to be re
written and to get our imprints as Africans, on the higher echelons of the
sport. Everyone loves an underdog, an upset, a fairytale ending...so look no
further than Oshoala.
5) Africa
United: Africa is home to some of the most populous nations in the world
and nothing unites Africa more than football. Due to our relatively small
status in world football, it a common phenomenon that African nations root for
African teams whenever there is an international competition (Europe and South
America have the luxury of individualism/sentimentalism due to their higher
status in the Sport). Just as most Africans vote en mass for their favorite
male player when shortlisted for the annual BBC Africa Footballer of the Year,
this is an opportunity to get one of us -our very own pride- to the heights of
a success that interestingly, is just the dawn.
Asisat's
dream lies in our hands. Written in the Stars or Not.....Let's Get her there.
Impossible
is Nothing!!
NOTE:
Fans can vote online through the BBC website or by SMS.
To vote for Asisat online, go to www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/womens/wfoty-vote/2015
To vote for the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2015 by SMS,
text the number 5 for Asisat
Oshoala to +44 7786 20 20 04.
The winner will be announced on the 26th of May via the BBC World
Service.
