Oshoala says BBC award win will inspire Falcons to go on and lift World Cup

SUPER Falcons and Liverpool Ladies striker Asisat Oshoala has said she hopes her winning the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award will inspire Nigeria to go on and win the Fifa Women's World Cup kicking off next month.

 

Oshoala, 20, was named the winner of the BBC award yesterday, beating Spain’s Veronica Boquete, German Nadine Kessler, Scot Kim Little and Brazilian Marta to the honour. She was given the award at the Super Falcon's team hotel in Canada where the Falcons are camping for the World Cup taking place between June 6 and July 5.

 

Nigeria will get her tournament off to a state on June 8 when the Super Falcons face Sweden in their Group D opener. Australia and the USA are the two other teams in their group and with Oshoala becoming the first player to win the new award from the BBC World Service, the team has been given a boost.

 

Voted for by football fans around the world, the award is the first of its kind hosted by a global broadcaster. Oshoala, who was the youngest player to be shortlisted, was the  leading scorer and was voted best player at the Under-20s World Cup, which also held  in Canada last summer.

 

Oshoala said: “I would like to say thank you to the BBC, to my fans around the world and to everyone who voted. It’s a really good thing for us as a team because we now know that we have something great and now we want to go at the trophy.

 

"We can do it, we did it in 2014 we can also do it this year as well. There is going to be a lot of motivation for women’s football in Nigeria now because of this award because there are a lot of fans out there and support for women’s football in Nigeria is now growing very high."

 

Last year, Oshoala's performances led Nigeria to the final, where the Falcons were narrowly beaten by Germany and she was also a major influence in the senior Nigeria team who won the African Women’s Championship in October. That ensured qualification for this summer’s World Cup in Canada and Oshoala said the honour was a big lift for Nigeria ahead of the World Cup.

 

She added: “I know my Liverpool Ladies coach is going to be happy right now. Before I left the UK he called me and said to me don’t worry I hope you win the award and we’re going to celebrate it when you come back."

 

Oshoala signed for Liverpool Ladies in January 2015, becoming the first African to feature in the Women’s Super League, with manager Matt Beard calling her one of the world’s top young footballers. Mary Hockaday, controller of BBC World Service English, paid tribute to Oshoala, pointing out that although still only 20, she has proved herself a formidable talent on the pitch.