Asisat Oshoala, a female striker from Nigeria, was named the 2023 Confederation of African Football Women’s Player of the Year at the recent awards ceremony in Morocco.
This is Oshoala‘s sixth trophy in this category.
Among the most legendary African female footballers of all time, the “Agba baller” as she is fondly called, made history as the first player for the Super Falcons to score at three consecutive FIFA World Cups.
Having debuted with the senior squad in September 2013, Oshoala won the coveted women’s football award five times: in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, and most recently 2023.
During her acceptance speech at the awards site in Morocco, the striker for Barcelona Femeni expressed her gratitude to her coaches at all levels, from local to national and club.
She further emphasised the need for African football federations to cooperate in order to revitalise the sport on the continent.
“Football is a team sport; it’s a team game and I urge all the federations in Africa to please come together; let’s work together and build our continent. Let’s make it the best in the world.”
“It is very possible; it happened in the last men’s World Cup; we saw what happened, and we shocked the world. In the last World Cup, all the national teams that represented Africa in Australia made history,” adding that “before the next World Cup, we can get better, we can do better and we can win it for sure. Because at the end of the day, if we don’t support ourselves, nobody will come to Africa; nobody will come to this continent to support us.”
“We have to work together as a team because football is a team sport. Let’s start at home and go to the world and conquer it.”
