Oshoala aiming to make history again after signing new FC Barcelona contract
FC Barcelona Femini and Super Falcons forward Asisat Oshoala was recently awarded a new contract by the Spanish giants which will keep her at the club until 2024. This comes after she helped them win one of the earliest league titles ever, with 16 goals scored before she suffered an unfortunate injury in February. She is set to miss 10 weeks of action but is hoping to be back as soon as possible, with Barcelona still fighting to win two additional trophies this season. They are among the favourites to win the Women’s Champions League according to Betfred, whose free bet promo codes for new customers via oddschecker can be used to back Oshoala’s team. However, they’ll have an even better chance of winning that and the Copa de la Reina in an unprecedented second consecutive treble if she manages to get fit.
Career So Far
Oshoala’s career so far is a story of early potential being completely fulfilled. She started out in the academy of NWFL side FC Robo Queens, where she made her debut before she had even turned 16. She played there for four years, building a solid reputation in her homeland for her speed, skill and bravery. After two years at fellow NWFL team Rivers Angels, she moved to Liverpool, becoming the first African woman to compete in England’s top division. Despite spending less than a year in Merseyside, she did enough to be signed by Arsenal, the most successful club in English Women’s Football. She helped them to a third-place finish and their 14th FA Cup win.
She moved to China’s Dalian Quanjian in 2017 and had an immediate impact, helping them to a league title in her first season and winning the golden boot in the process. The team repeated the feat the following year with Oshoala again playing a pivotal role, leading to her move to FC Barcelona.
Barça Career
After initially signing for Barça on loan, Oshoala set about convincing the Catalan giants to sign her permanently with an average of a goal a game in her first half-season. In her first full season, she netted 20 goals as FC Barcelona went undefeated to win the league title, with Oshoala finishing the season as the league’s second-highest scorer. That season she also helped her club win the Copa de la Reina and reach the Women’s Champions League final, which they lost to Lyon.
The following season, Oshoala continued her fine form with her goals, assists and exciting performances forming a big part of her team’s quadruple win. She became Africa’s first female Champions League winner when she was brought on in the final to help her team to a 4-0 win over Chelsea.
Accolades
Oshoala is a joint record four-time CAF Women’s Player of the Year winner who has won the award four times. She first won it in 2014 while playing for Rivers Angels after helping Nigeria win the African Women’s Championship and repeated the feat in 2016. She also won the award in 2017 after her stellar first full season in China and won it most recently after her move to Barcelona. After winning the treble with Barcelona last season, she is now Africa’s most decorated female footballer ever and has stated she has no intention of stopping now.
Future Hopes
Having already cemented her place as a Super Falcons legend, Oshoala is not content with what she has done. After winning the treble last year she said, “To achieve this with Barcelona has shown that we can win a major trophy as a team and as part of this great club, the desire is to keep raising the African flag by making more history”. These quotes underline her burning ambition, which is why her club will be hoping she can keep scoring goals and helping them win trophies.
In terms of her international career, she will hope to help Nigeria make an even bigger impact at a World Cup Tournament. At only 27 years old, time is certainly on her side.
