Over the years, Nigeria has witnessed the emergence of amazing female football players a who have represented the country brilliantly at both local and international tournaments.
This piece takes a brief look at five of the best female footballers to have don the green and white jersey of our darling Super Falcons. In fact, four of them have won at least one “African Women’s Footballer Of The Year” award.
5. Onome Ebi
At 39 years old, the veteran remains an ever-present, rock-solid defender for the Super Falcons since she made her international bow back in 2003.
Ebi began her club career with local side Omidiran Babes and was part of the team between 2001 and 2008. She has also featured for the likes of Bayelsa Queens, DjurgƄrden, Atasehir Belediyespor, SunnanƄ SK and Henan Jianye. She currently plies her trade in Belarus with FC Minsk.
During the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France, Ebi became the first African footballer ever to play in 5 different FIFA World Cup tournaments. She was also part of Nigeria’s team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The current captain of the Super Falcons has featured in every edition of the Women Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) since 2008 and has won the tournament four times.
She is truly a legend and a player many young Nigerians and extensively, other Africans look up to.
4. Cynthia Uwak
This list of the greatest female footballers in Nigeria’s football history will not be complete if Uwak is not included.
Still playing active professional football, the 36-year-old most recently played for Finnish club Ć land United. Her stunning performances helped her team win three successive Naisten Liiga titles between 2011 and 2013.
While playing for European giants, Olympique Lyonnais, she won the French Division 1 FĆ©minine title in 2009.
Uwak is a talented and lethal goalscorer who has achieved great success home and abroad. During her peak years, her name sent shivers down the spines of opposition defenders.
The climax of her international career was when she won back-to-back Africa Women Footballer of the Year award in 2006 and 2007. She was a key player for Nigeria at the 2007 Women’s World Cup and the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
3. Mercy Akide
Born in Port Harcourt, Mercy possessed blistering pace and a good eye for goal during her playing days.
She painted the local tournaments with a barrage of goals when she featured for Garden City Queens and established local outfits Jegede Babes, Ufuoma Babes and Pelican Stars.
As a result of her goalscoring exploits, she got a scholarship to the Milligan College in the United States and while there, played for the Hampton Roads Piranhas and the San Diego Spirit.
The 46-year-old won the first African Women Footballer of the Year award in 2001.
She was included in the FIFA All-Star in 1999 and 2004 and played for the Super Falcons in three World Cup tournaments, winning three continental titles for Nigeria (1998, 2000 and 2002).
2. Asisat Oshoala
The 27-year-old recently won her fifth Africa Women Footballer of the Year award, becoming the first African (male or female) to win Africa’s best player award more than four times.
Oshoala became the first African player to score a goal in a UEFA Women’s Champions League final, also helping Barcelona reach the last four in three straight seasons.
In 2021, she also emerged as the first African woman to win the UEFA Champions League, following Barcelona’s 4-0 win over English side Chelsea.
The former Arsenal and Liverpool ladies forward has been a tremendous blessing to the national team right from her early days.
Superzee was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and was also the top goal scorer at the tournament.
She was also awarded the best player at the 2014 Women Africa Cup of Nations.
Following her extraordinary achievements, President Goodluck Jonathan awarded her the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) in 2014.
She is indeed a leader and an achiever par excellence.
1. Perpetua Nkwocha
Arguably the greatest female footballer Nigeria has ever seen, Nkwocha took part in seven Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and won five of them.
She emerged top scorer in three of those tournaments and set a record nine goals during the 2004 edition.
Nkwocha was technically gifted, tactically sound and possessed incredible finishing abilities that has not been seen before in Nigeria’s female football history.
The maestro was voted Africa Women’s Footballer of the Year four times (2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011) and played at three Olympics. Nkwocha also represented Nigeria in four FIFA Women’s World Cup competitions.
The 46-year-old is widely respected throughout he continent due to her scintillating performances for the Super Falcons. She made over 135 appearances for Swedish club SunnanƄ between 2007 and 2014.
Nkwocha found the back of the net an incredible 80 times in 99 appearances.
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