Asisat Oshoala: Super Falcons star says she grew playing football with boys

With no girls to play football with, Asisat Oshoala started playing with boys when she was growing up in Ikorodu, Lagos

Super Falcons star, Asisat Oshoala has revealed that he played with the opposite sex while growing up in Ikorodu, Lagos.

Oshoala who now plays for Arsenal Ladies grew up in the Ikorodu surburb of Lagos. Growing up, she incurred the wrath of her parents when she dropped out of school to pursue a football career.

With no girl to play with, the forward started playing with boys.

 

“When I was in school I used to play football with boys,” Oshoala told FIFA.com.

“I was in this six-a-side team. The boys always used to say to me: 'Don’t go to the front, just stay at the back. Just kick the balls out. You can’t score goals. You can’t dribble past defenders.”

"And then the day came where we made it to a final. I dribbled two or three players and scored a goal. 1-0. End of the game. I remember saying to them, 'Look at that. You don’t believe in me but look at what I can do.”

The 21-year-old said her determination to make it as a footballer is what have taken her to the level she is now.

In 2015, she was named the BBC Women’s Player of the Year, the first to win the award.

 

She was named best player and was the highest goal scorer at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. She was also named best player and second top goalscorer with the Super Falcons team who won the 2014 African Women's Championship.

“I didn’t think I was even going to get to pass the ball at the U-20 (Japan u-20 Female World cup tournament) because I was so young,” she further said.

“I thought I was just making up the numbers.”

She came on as a substitute in the 76th minute of Nigeria’s opener against Korea Republic. Her performance for those final 14 minutes was so impressive that she started every subsequent match at the tournament, helping Nigeria get to the semi-finals.