Super Falcons forward Asisat Oshoala will be seeking a fifth African Women’s Player of the Year gong after making the nominees list announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the 2022 award on Wednesday night.
The Barcelona forward and three other Super Falcons players, Rasheedat Ajibade, Chiamaka Nnadozie, and Uchenna Kanu will have to beat off competition from the likes of Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa, Atletico Madrid), Refiloe Jane South Africa, AC Milan)Ajara Nchout Njoya. (Cameroon, Inter Milan), Gabrielle Onguene (Cameroon, CSKA Moscow), Zenatha Coleman (Namibia, Fenerbahce), and Sabrine Ellouzi (Tunisia, Feyenoord).
The CAF Awards ceremony will be held on July 21, in Rabat, Morocco.
It is set to take place ahead of the final of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) that is currently ongoing in Morocco until July 23.
Oshoala, who won the pichichi award as the top scorer in the Spanish Primera Iberdrola despite missing a chunk of the season through a succession of injuries, has won four of the last six prizes thanks to her exploits for the Nigeria women’s national team as well as her European team.
Another African individual award would see the 27-year-old surpass Falcons legend Perpetua Nkwocha’s total of four medals and become the first African woman to win the top prize for women five times.
However, Oshoala’s chances to win the award is slim as she has been ruled out of WAFCON due to an injury she sustained in Nigeria’s 1-2 loss to the Bayana Bayana of South Africa and has since returned to Spain for treatment.
According to CAF, the performances of players at the ongoing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will be taken into consideration in deciding the winner.