By Harry Awurumibe, Editor-in-Chief, Abuja
Yes, yes, I made it…. Nigeria and Super Falcons star, Asisat Oshoala clinches her fists after scoring for the African reigning Champions. She was Wednesday named No.27th in the ESPN Top 50 Best Players
On a day she scored FC Barcelona’s 100th goal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) during their 3-0 win over English side, Manchester City in the quarter-final first-leg tie played in Barcelona on Wednesday, Super Falcons star, Asisat Oshoala also made the list of ESPN’s world Top 50 players.
Oshoala who scored the first goal for Barcelona in the 35th minute off Mariona Caldentey assist, is the No. 27 in the list of world best women’s footballer as compiled by the authoritative United States (US) media outfit, ESPN.
According to ESPN, “Oshoala is probably Africa’s most accomplished female footballer, having won the CAF Women’s Player of the Year award four times, the latest in 2019.
“That was the year she signed with Barcelona, where she’s since won four titles and a UEFA Women’s Champions League runners-up medal. Oshoala is exceedingly accurate inside the penalty area and is always the teammate you want taking the final touch. Oshoala has continued to impress for the Catalan giants, averaging a goal per game since arriving in Spain, and now that Nigeria have reiterated their status as the premier women’s side on the continent, Oshoala is undeniably their premier player”, says Lindsay du Plessis of ESPN who wrote her profile
Meanwhile, the U.S. women players featured heavily on the first-ever ESPN FC Women’s Ranking, though there’s tough competition all over the globe for top honors in the ESPN compilation.
While 2020 might have thrown everything it could in the way of women’s soccer, leagues and clubs fought to get players back on the pitch and give us enthralling matches while we were all stuck at home. In 2021, global excitement around the game is at an all-time high.
The National Women’s Soccer League in the U.S. is on the cusp of returning in all its glory — beginning on April 9 — while in Europe, there are some nail-biting league races as well as big ties ahead in the latter stages of the year.
According to a statement from ESPN, “some of the stars on the list played full season in 2020, while others are just getting back into the swing of things after leagues were suspended. It was important to our panel that individual achievement and talent were recognized outside of winning cups and trophies.
Below are the
inaugural Top 50 women’s players rank. They are:
1. Sam Mewis
Club/country: Manchester City/United States
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder
World Best, Samantha Mewis… ESPN No.1 Best Player in the world.
Mewis’ transformation from a player who didn’t make the 2015 USWNT World Cup or 2016 Rio Olympics squads, to someone who Vlatko Andonovski calls “a true example of what the USWNT stands for,” is remarkable. Her arrival to the Women’s Super League in August 2020 might not have been considered the most star-studded signing of the summer, but it arguably has had the most immediate and lasting impact. She slotted straight into Gareth Taylor’s starting lineup and has contributed a number of crucial goals, including in January when she scored the game winner in the FA Cup final for Manchester City. She now sleeps with the medal beside her bed. Add into this her sensational USWNT form. She scored her first career hat trick against Colombia, and while an injury kept her off of the SheBelieves squad, she will surely be one of the first names on Andonovski’s Olympic roster. Since Feb. 28, she has scored six goals — three in the league and three in the UWCL. There is no stopping this Tower of Power, and with City just two points off Chelsea in the league and an exciting quarterfinal against Spanish champions Barcelona, she could soon be sleeping with a few more medals beside her bed.
2. Sam Kerr
Club/country: Chelsea/Australia
Age: 27
Position: Forward
3. Vivianne Miedema
Club/country: Arsenal/Netherlands
Age: 24
Position: Forward
4. Pernille Harder
Club/country: Chelsea/Denmark
Age: 28
Position: Forward
5. Lucy Bronze
Club/country: Manchester City/England
Age: 29
Position: Defender
6. Crystal Dunn
Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States
Age: 28
Position: Defender
7. Dzsenifer Marozsan
Club/country: Lyon/Germany
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder
8. Julie Ertz
Club/country: Chicago Red Stars/United States
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder
9. Caroline Graham Hansen
Club/country: Barcelona/Norway
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder
10. Debinha
Club/country: North Carolina Courage/Brazil
Age: 29
Position: Forward
11. Wendie Renard
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 30
Position: Defender
12. Fran Kirby
Club/country: Chelsea/England
Age: 27
Position: Forward
13. Tobin Heath
Club/country: Manchester United/United States
Age: 32
Position: Midfielder
14. Saki Kumagai
Club/country: Lyon/Japan
Age: 30
Position: Midfielder
15. Rose Lavelle
Club/country: Manchester City/United States
Age: 25
Position: Midfielder
16. Amandine Henry
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 31
Position: Midfielder
17. Jennifer Hermoso
Club/country: Barcelona/Spain
Age: 30
Position: Forward
18. Ji So-Yun
Club/country: Chelsea/South Korea
Age: 30
Position: Midfielder
19. Marie-Antoinette Katoto
Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/France
Age: 22
Position: Forward
20. Eugenie Le Sommer
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 31
Position: Forward
21. Delphine Cascarino
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 24
Position: Midfielder
22. Alexia Putellas
Club/country: Barcelona/Spain
Age: 27
Position: Midfielder
23. Lindsey Horan
Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder
24. Alex Popp
Club/country: Wolfsburg/Germany
Age: 29
Position: Forward
25. Caroline Weir
Club/country: Manchester City/Scotland
Age: 25
Position: Midfielder
26. Christen Press
Club/country: Manchester United/United States
Age: 32
Position: Forward
27. Asisat Oshoala
Club/country: Barcelona/Nigeria
Age: 26
Position: Forward
28. Lieke Martens
Club/country: Barcelona/Netherlands
Age: 28
Position: Forward
29. Abby Dahlkemper
Club/country: Manchester City/United States
Age: 27
Position: Defender
30. Christiane Endler
Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/Chile
Age: 29
Position: Goalkeeper
31. Khadija Shaw
Club/country: Bordeaux/Jamaica
Age: 24
Position: Forward
32. Amel Majri
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder
33. Kadeisha Buchanan
Club/country: Lyon/Canada
Age: 25
Position: Defender
34. Magdalena Eriksson
Club/country: Chelsea/Sweden
Age: 27
Position: Defender
35. Marta
Club/country: Orlando Pride/Brazil
Age: 35
Position: Forward
36. Kadidiatou Diani
Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/France
Age: 25
Position: Forward
37. Melanie Leupolz
Club/country: Chelsea/Germany
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder
38. Alex Morgan
Club/country: Orlando Pride/United States
Age: 31
Position: Forward
39. Kim Little
Club/country: Arsenal/Scotland
Age: 30
Position: Midfielder
Team USA Golden Girl, Megan Rapinoe surprisingly came a distant No.40 in the ESPN Ranking.
40. Megan Rapinoe
Club/country: OL Reign/United States
Age: 35
Position: Forward
41. Cristiana Girelli
Club/country: Juventus/Italy
Age: 30
Position: Forward
42. Beth England
Club/country: Chelsea/England
Age: 26
Position: Forward
43. Ewa Pajor
Club/country: Wolfsburg/Poland
Age: 24
Position: Forward
44. Lena Goessling
Club/country: Wolfsburg/Germany
Age: 35
Position: Midfielder
45. Becky Sauerbrunn
Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States
Age: 35
Position: Defender
46. Steph Houghton
Club/country: Manchester City/England
Age: 32
Position: Defender
47. Kosovare Asllani
Club/country: Real Madrid/Sweden
Age: 31
Position: Forward
48. Danielle van de Donk
Club/country: Arsenal/Netherlands
Age: 29
Position: Midfielder
49. Jackie Groenen
Club/country: Manchester United/Netherlands
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder
50. Ellen White
Club/country: Manchester City/England
Age: 31
Position: Forward
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