Asisat Oshoala becomes first African woman to win Pichichi Award in Spain

After scoring 20 goals in 19 league appearances, Asisat Oshoala has won the 2021/2022 Women’s Spanish Primera Division Pichichi Award for the league’s top scorer. ENIOLA OYEMOLADE takes a look at all the outstanding achievements of the 27-year-old since the start of her career.

Asisat Oshoala of Barcelona Femení has become the first African to win the 2021/2022 Women’s Spanish Primera Division Pichichi Award for the league’s top scorer after scoring 20 goals in 19 league appearances.

She was awarded the league’s top scorer ahead of other teammates but will share the award with Brazilian Geyse Ferreira, who managed to score 20 goals in 27 appearances for Madrid CFF.

Despite the fact that the striker missed some top matches in the season due to injuries, her impressive start helped her win the prestigious award.

The award was confirmed on May 15, 2022 after Barcelona finished the season with a 2-1 victory against Atletico Madrid at Estadi Johan Cruyff.

In the game that saw both teams reduced to 10 players, the former Super Falcons captain was introduced in the 63rd minute for Jenifer Hermoso but she could not add to her tally of goals.

Oshoala played a major role as Barcelona were crowned Liga champions for the third time in a row and seventh in total, after winning all 30 of their games in the season, an unprecedented achievement in league history.

Commenting on the achievement, Oshoala in an interview with BBC stated that the top scorer was a team effort.

She said, “It’s obviously been a team effort to get here, and l can only thank my team mates and everyone at the club for this achievement.

“We’ve been working hard all season and cannot stop now because we have another big one ahead of us.”

With her win, Oshoala becomes the third Barcelona player after Sonia Bermúdez and Jennifer Hermoso to claim the award since its inception in 2005.

Born in Ikorodu, Lagos State, into a Muslim family on October 9, 1994, Oshoala started her basic football career in Mushin, also in Lagos State.

She had her primary school education at Air Force Primary School in Victoria Island before she moved to Aunty Ayo International School in Ikoyi for her secondary school education, and graduated in 2009.

After her Secondary school education, Oshoala started her career at Nigerian Lower Division side FC Robo and she was there from 2009 to 2013 before moving to Rivers Angels.

At Rivers Angels, Oshoala broke into limelight when she represented Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada. Here, she was named the Player of the Tournament after she emerged as the top scorer with seven goals.

Her performance helped Nigeria to finish the tournament as the runner-up.

After her amazing performance in Canada, she was named best player and second top goal scorer with the Super Falcons team who won the 2014 African Women›s Championship.

At that time, Oshoala was already a crowd-pleasing individual on the field of play and she became a household name both in Nigeria and overseas.

On January 23, 2015, Oshoala joined Liverpool in England›s Women’s Super League. The club’s manager, Matt Beard had called her “one of the best young players in the world.” She later became the first player from an African nation to compete in the top women›s league in England.

In March 2016, Oshoala signed with Arsenal. The then Arsenal manager, Pedro Losa had referred to her as “a fantastic talent and will be a great addition to our squad. She is quick, with excellent feet and has proven she can score goals so it›s very positive she has decided to join us.”

Oshoala later helped Arsenal win the 2016 FA Women’s Cup Final on May 14, 2016. The win marked the club’s 14th title. Oshoala made 13 appearances for the club during the 2016 season and scored two goals. She also scored the game-winning goal in the 2–0 win against Notts County on August 28, 2016.

On February 10, 2017, Oshoala signed with Chinese club Dailan. During the 2017 season, she scored 12 goals which helped the club win the league championship. She was awarded the league’s Golden Boot award for most goals scored.

The same year, she scored four goals during the 2017 Women›s Super Cup and helped the club defeat Shanghai 5-3 to win the championship. In October 2018, she helped the club win the league championship for the second consecutive year.

On January 31, 2019, Spanish club FC Barcelona Femení signed Oshoala on a loan deal until the end of the season, and on May 31, 2019, Barcelona announced her full transfer to the club and extension until 2022.

In March 2022, Oshoala signed a new Barcelona contract and will remain with the Spanish giants until the end of the 2023-2024 campaign.

Oshoala has been referred to as Africa’s leading women’s footballer, and in an interview with DW, she acknowledged the fact that many kids in Africa look up to her.

She said, “I know that there are a lot of kids in Africa that look up to me. I just want them to know: be yourself, do your best all the time, win whatever you can win. I’ve been Africa’s best player four times: when I was younger I never dreamed of this. I was only doing my thing.”

“I’m just trying to give hope to the kids in Africa that they can get to the top if they put in their best in whatever they are doing.”

Although Oshoala’s parents were not in support of her playing football, they later came to terms with it.

She had said in an interview: “I was always into sport and was an athlete at first. I used to run home from school. I then started playing football with my friends and classmates. Mainly boys and that was when I became really interested.

“I did not think about becoming a professional then, though. I also did not have the support of my parents, who did not want me to play. It was only when they noticed that I was serious that they started supporting me.”

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