November 08, (THEWILL) – Asisat Oshoala has received recognition from the Women’s International Champions Cup (WICC) for her contributions to the growth of women’s football.
The 28-year-old was named to the third annual WICC Best XI, joining the likes of Sarina Wiegman, head coach of the England female national team, journalists Jeff Kassouf and Anna Kessel, Cindy Parlow Cone, president of U.S. Soccer, and Ally Chief Marketing Officer, Andrea Brimmer on the honour roll.
Susie Fiore, the head of the WICC, acknowledged the contributions of Oshoala and the other honorees when she said: “The winners work tirelessly to champion the women’s game, often in spite of great obstacles. Without the contributions of the 2022 honorees, the women’s game would not have the explosive growth that we’re seeing today.”
It is yet another honour for the most decorated female football player in Nigerian history. She played for Liverpool and Arsenal, winning the 2015 Women’s FA Cup with the Gunners, and is the first African woman to play in the English Women’s Super League (WSL).
Oshoala, who has won the African Women’s Footballer of the Year award a record five times, was the first African to score in a UEFA Women’s Champions League final. When she assisted Barca in capturing the UEFA Champions League in 2021, she also became the first African woman to do so. In addition, Oshoala is the first African woman to win the Pichichi Trophy in the Primera Iberdrola.
In Augusta this year, she was also the first African woman to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
