African football queen Asisat Oshoala’s passion transcends football. She is enthusiastic about changing the lives of the underprivileged, especially the girl-child. OLAITAN GANIU caught up with the Barcelona star recently and captured her dream, drive, aspirations and plans to change the world around her.
SUPER Falcons and FC Barcelona striker, Asisat Oshoala, cuts the picture of a simple Lagos girl as she kicks football around with her childhood teammates of FC Robo at the sandy pitch of St. Jude Primary School Ilasamaja Lagos.
It is like old times for her as she runs around and giggles with her old friends who were not afraid to tackle her and run the ball around her. There was no pretence around their superstar friend who is the biggest female footballer to have come out of Nigeria.
For Oshoala, FC Robo Academy has become a project and she takes delight in mingling with the youngsters there.
She said: “You motivate the younger ones when you train with them. Training with FC Robo gives me an opportunity to be me because I am always free with these girls. I could spend my holidays elsewhere, but I always feel I should use my spare time to impact on the up and coming stars. I see FC Robo as my home.”
The 24-year-old recently joined FC Barcelona, one of the biggest clubs in world football. She initially joined the team on a six-month loan deal from a Chinese club, Dalian Quanjian. But within a short while in the Spanish team, she has impressed the coach, scoring eight goals in 11 games in all competitions.
She makes history as the first-ever African player to feature and score goal in a UEFA champion’s league final and was also voted African Woman Footballer of the Year on three occasions.
Aside FC Robo, Asisat Oshoala Foundation, a non-profit organisation, was borne out of her resolve to touch the lives of a girl-child. The foundation, according to her, is committed to improving the physical, social and intellectual development of the girl-child through education and sports. “I have a world outside football which my foundation. I am fully committed to it, it is my social responsibilities,” she revealed.
“Over the years, the foundation in conjunction with the Lagos State government and Emzor Pharmaceuticals has partnered to mentor and empower young girls in Lagos State. And also, my team has been catering for the disadvantaged ones by donating medicine, books and offered feeding programme during the month of Ramadan.”
Born and bred in Ikorodu, a suburb of Lagos by disciplinary parents. But, as a teenager, a time comes when she had to kick against the wish of her parents to follow her dream of playing professional soccer.
“I come from a disciplined family who just wanted me to go to school and read rather than play football,” she stated. “In fact, I was not alone in that situation. Pressure from parents forced many of my playmates to opt out of playing football. They would make them hawk when they should be training to discourage them from playing football. The belief is that football is not for a girl-child.”
She noted that her foundation was borne out of this experience and her success story has become an inspiration to many African children, especially the girl-child.
“I can feel the girl-child pains as I also experienced the same pain. But I had to pursue my dream when the opportunity came. Every year, we organise a football clinic where hundreds of young girls, including parents, were enlightened on this issue. I am trying to change the mentality and help this generation to believe they can achieve whatever they want. I will continue to assist and mentor the little girls on the streets so that they attend school and play football at the same time.”
Playing in Europe has also exposed her to soccer and education going hand in hand, so her foundation is also taking care of the educational needs of her wards.
“I try as much as possible to take care of their educational needs to relieve this parental pressure. Personally, I have paid their school fees and other things like that. So, for me, I’m not only a proud mother but a proud sister to all of them,” Oshoala said with smile.
Her mentorship has yielded good fruits too as one Chidima Okeke took part at the just-concluded Female World Cup in France. Three of them are currently in the United Kingdom (UK) while others are warming up to join the Europe train.
So, what is her driving force? She answered: “It’s not easy but my passion and desire to cater for these girls has been key because it is what I love doing. I am not under any pressure to do what I’m doing. It is something that comes out of my love for humanity.”
For any of the girls that may want to seek success the easy way, she has this to say: “I don’t believe it is ideal to seek favour from any coach to get headway.
“If you’re good, you’re good and if you’re not, that is it. But, it only takes a good coach to nurture a player. It is just that some of these kids are at times unlucky to meet the right people. I pray that these kids meet the right people.”
Then the Lagos State Anti-Drug Ambassador added with emphasis, “Drug is a no, no. When you’re telling kids not to go into drugs, some of them believe you also take some pills or supplement to get strength. That is why I train with them morning and afternoon so that they see where I gain my energy from.”
Though, the Super Falcons top striker was reluctant in talking about the 2019 FIFA World Cup in France, she informed that the Nigerian team were unlucky to be kicked out in the second round.
“We had many injuries and some regulars could not play because of caution cards. I think Falcons were so unlucky. It would have been a different ball game, if we had a full squad. Obviously, we put in our efforts but the team fell to the Germans in the last 16.”
Oshoala, who was conferred with a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) by the former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, however, urged the present administration to invest more in female football league same way they are focusing on the male football team.
She said: “We all know how much the government invested in the male football league. They should try to invest in the female team too, so we can go a long way. Abroad, people have passion for female football and they are ready to give everything but the case here is different. We need proper structure and more investors, so that we can compete with the world.”
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