SPECIAL REPORT :Why Oshoala Must Succeed in America Women’s League

By Harry Awurumibe, Africa’s No.1 Women’s Football Journalist

February 1, 2024 will remain indelible in the memory of the reigning CAF Best African Player  (Women), Asisat Lamina Oshoala after she sealed a big transfer move to emerging United States (US) National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) outfit, Bay Football Club, from European champions, FC Barcelona Femení, on permanent basis, for an initial two-year deal.

The 6-time CAF Best African Player (Women) who won 14 trophies in 5 years with Barcelona and scored 117 goals in all competitions, on Thursday signed a two-year deal with an option of another year for a reported contract fee of $162,000.

The former FC Robo of Lagos and Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt attacker is already training with the club in San Francisco Bay Area commonly called Bay Area in California, a western US state which stretches from the Mexican border along the Pacific ocean for nearly 900 miles with its capital in Sacramento but the City of Los Angeles the  seat of the Hollywood entertainment industry.

Also, Oshoala has been introduced to her new teammates by club’s General Manager, Lucy Rushton, an English football manager and sports analyst who had earlier served as GM of Major League Soccer (MLS) team D.C. United, where she was the league’s second-ever woman to hold the title, and as Head of Technical Recruitment and Sports Analysts for MLS team,  Atlanta United FC.

The English woman who has also served as first-team Analyst and Head of Technical Scouting for English Football League (EFL) Championship and Premier League club,  Reading F.C., and a player Recruitment Analyst of  Premier League club, Watford F.C and Bay FC head coach, Albertin Montoya, will like Oshoala to hit the ground running.

Also, supporters of Bay FC which are set to begin play in the NWSL as an expansion team in the 2024 season, will like to see that opponents who will come to PayPal Park in San Jose will return home empty handed.

In the same breath, the club owners, Sixth Street Partners and co-Chairpersons, Alan Waxman; Aly Wagner, will want the club founded on April 4,  2023 to make huge impressions at the end of the season hence they hired a high-profile player of Oshoala’s calibre.

For Oshoala to leave FC Barcelona Femení to join a new NWSL team, Bay FC, she must have done her homework well because she is expected to carry this club on her shoulders as she is expected to hit the ground running when the US elite women’s league season kicks off in March.

Prompt News reports that the 2024 NWSL season will run from March 16 to  November 1-3 and a playoff tournament occurs after the season culminating in the NWSL championship game in late November.

The San Francisco Bay Area’s new expansion team, Bay FC, will play its inaugural match on March 16 at Angel City in Los Angeles just as the Utah Royals, returning to the league this season, host the Chicago Red Stars on opening day.

All 14 NWSL teams will compete in 26 regular-season matches, concluding on the weekend of November 1-3 ahead of the NWSL playoffs. Unlike last year, all teams will not play their final regular-season games simultaneously.

Eight clubs will progress to the playoffs, beginning with the quarterfinal round on November 9-10. The NWSL championship decider will take place November 23 and be broadcast on CBS during primetime.

According to information from the NWSL, during the regular season, Friday matches will air on Prime Video while every Saturday two games will be broadcast on Scripps’ ION network. CBS and its sports channels, as well as Paramount+, will air a package of matches, as will ESPN’s networks, including ABC and ESPN.

But the Super Falcons striker, who is also called “Àgbà Baller” by her fans may have to double her efforts if she wants to excel in the NWSL like she did in the English Women’s Football League,  Chinese Women’s League and until now the Spanish Iberdola, winning everything in Europe with FC Barcelona Feminin will count nothing if she fails to help Bay FC cement their place in the NWSL.

The former Liverpool and Arsenal forward joined Barcelona permanently on a three-year deal after an impressive loan spell from Chinese side Dalian Quanjian in 2019.

She went on to make 162 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 117 goals, including a record-setting season feat in 2022, when she was the joint top scorer in the league with 19 goals.

The two-time Ballon D’or nominee top the scorers chart three times in Spain, helping the club win the UEFA Women’s Champions League twice in 2021 and 2023, four league titles, three Spanish Super Cups and the Copa de la Reina three times.

She is the first African woman to win the UEFA Champions League in 2021 and also score in the Champions League final in 2019.

However,  Oshoala penned an emotional post  on the eve of her departure from FC Barcelona when she wrote: “As I bid farewell to this incredible team and the city that has been my home for the past five years, I am filled with mixed emotions,” Oshoala said in a post on her  Instagram handle.

“It has been an absolute honor and privilege to wear the Barcelona Femini jersey and represent this prestigious club.

“Since joining the team in 2019, I have had the opportunity to be a part of some of the most memorable moments in the club’s history. Together, we have lifted several trophies and these achievements are a testament to hard work, dedication and I feel privileged to have been a part of this team”, she wrote.

She also said: “But beyond the trophies and accolades, what I will cherish most are the relationships I have built with some of my teammates, coaches, staff and the amazing fans. You have become my family and I will forever be grateful for the love and support you have shown me.

“As I embark on a new journey, I want you to know that Barcelona Femini will always hold a special place in my heart. I will carry with me the memories, lessons and friendships that I have gained during my time here.”

However, expectations are high for Oshoala to  perform at uptimal level,  the way she did in FC Barcelona especially last season when they won the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She was also part of the FC Barcelona 2020/2021 winning team.

To buttress the fact that Bay FC owners have implicit confidence in Oshoala to hit the ground running in NWSL, the club’s General Manager, Lucy Rushton, believes the Nigerian will bolster the club with her quality.

Said she: “To have the opportunity to add a player of Asisat’s quality, experience and winning pedigree to our roster is an exciting and important day for the club and the NWSL.

“She (Oshoala) brings a top-class mentality to the field combined with pace and technical ability that allows her to lead the line, while also giving those players around her the license to be creative and thrive in space. Asisat is a proven goal scorer at the most elite levels of World football, and she comes here to continue that with Bay FC.”

Perhaps,  it is this type of trust in the ability of Oshoala to single-handedly carry Bay FC on her shoulders that will put untold pressure  on her, a situation which might affect her performance on the pitch as she will need sometime to adjust to the new environment.

This is why the six-time CAF Best Player Award Winner will have to work extra hard to live up to the expectations of her employers, fans and supporters as anything less than the standard she is known for in FC Barcelona or former clubs both in Nigeria and overseas will be regarded as a failure.

Fortunately, Oshoala can tap from the experience of two ex-Super Falcons legends, Florence Omagbemi and Mercy Akide-Udoh who were the first Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) players to play in NWSL via the collegiate soccer system after they were recruited by Milligan Buffaloes of Milligan College in the State of Tennessee.

Then red-hot Mercy and Super Falcons ace defender and captain, Omagbemi were scouted and signed by the officials of Milligan College who came straight to Nigeria’s team hotel in Los Angeles  to hand contract papers to the Nigeria internationals who did not hesitate to put pen to paper.

Omagbemi went on to play for Boston Breakers and San Diego Spirit before going into coaching while Mercy Akide joined Hampton Roads Piranhas after one season in Milligan Buffaloes. She later joined Omagbemi in San Diego Spirit in 2001but returned to Hampton Roads Piranhas in 2003 and played till 2006.

Indeed, Mercy Akide broke more ground in American women’s soccer league by becoming the first African to play in the high-profile but now-defunct Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) which was the world’s first women’s soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals.

Another person who will inspire Oshoala is former Super Falcons vice captain, Nkiru Doris Okosieme who played for King University’s King Tornado in Bristol, Tennessee and later Clayton State Lakers in Georgia before switching to Charlotte Lady Eagles.

However, coming to play in America in the twilight of career will be another kettle of fish for the hugely talented player as the NWSL can compare to to the top women’s football leagues around the world with the bulk of United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) plying their trade in NWSL.

At close to 30 years of age, Oshoala will find it difficult to compete with the same zeal she exhibited in her teens and twenties some 10 years ago during which she played for big clubs in Nigeria and abroad such as FC Robo of Lagos,  Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt, Liverpool and Arsenal Ladies of England respectively as well as Dalian Quanjian of China.

It has to be said that Oshoala spent what has been her most successful professional soccer career so far in FC Barcelona Femini where she played from 2019 to January 2024, making a total club appearance of 108 and scoring a whopping 92 goals. Oshoala who joined FC Barcelona on loan from Dalian Quanjian of China in 2019 made seven appearances but scored seven goals, prompting FC Barcelona to hire her

But it is expected that Oshoala who is bringing her talents to the United States with the newest NWSL expansion franchise, Bay FC, will not disappoint as she belongs to the select group of elite sportsmen and women who pay good attention to their careers. She does not play to the gallery since she broke into the limelight in 2009 when she joined her city club, FC Robo.

The Ikorodu-born footballer as a youth international was the FIFA Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, scoring seven goals in the tournament while she has appeared in three FIFA Women’s World Cup finals (2015, 2019, 2023) with Nigeria, helping the team advance to the Round of 16 in both the 2019 and 2023 tournaments.

Regardless of what happens in Bay FC cum NWSL adventure, Oshoala already has her place in Women’s Football Hall of Fame as the most decorated African and Nigerian female football player (past and present) and it will take a long time before another person will surpass her intimidating records which include being the first African woman nominated to the prestigious Ballon d’Or.

Like in the movie ‘Coming to America’, a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the lead role, Asisat Oshoala, an African’s sojourn in United States of America in search of a new identity, may make or mar her glittering football career.

This is why she cannot afford to fail in the mission to galvanise her new teammates to make Bay FC a club which will make its marks in the remodeled NWSL within the shortest possible time.

Good luck Oshoala popularly called “Àgba Baller”, which means “Legendary Footballer” in her local parlance.

ASISAT OSHOALA’S INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION/ CLUB RECORDS AT A GLANCE:

*She emerged the highest goal scorer (Golden Boot Award) the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup final.

*Named Best Player (Golden Ball Award) at 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup final.

*Named Best Player (Golden Ball Award) and Second Top Goalscorer with the Super Falcons team that won the 2014 African Women’s Championship (AWC).

*In September 2014, was made a Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) by the Nigeria’s President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

* Won the 2015 English FA Women’s Cup with Arsenal.

* Two English League Championships, Arsenal.

* Chinese Cup title with Dalian.

* Won 2019–20 Copa de la Reina with FC Barcelona.

* Won 2019–20 Supercopa de España Femenina with Barcelona.

*Was the first African (and Nigerian) player to score a goal in a UEFA Women’s Champions League final.

*Helped FC  Barcelona reach the semi-finals of UEFA Women’s Champions League in three consecutive years.

* On 16 May 2021, became the first African woman to win the UEFA Champions League, after Barcelona defeated Chelsea 4–0 in the finals.

*In 2021,  was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30.

*In 2022, became the first African woman to win the Primera División’s Pichichi Trophy.

* In August 2022 became the first African woman nominated for the Ballon d’Or.

*In July 2023, after her group stage heroics against Australia in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Oshoala saw a massive increase in her Instagram followership which made her become the first African female footballer to have a million followers on the social media platform.

*Oshoala earned another well-deserved nomination for the esteemed 2023 Ballon d’Or Award.

*Oshoala stands as a nominee in the Socrates Award category, a recognition dedicated to applauding remarkable solidarity initiatives undertaken by football champions.

Note: Among the five exceptional individuals chosen for the award, Oshoala nomination adds to her impressive achievements, aligning her with the legacy of the iconic Brazilian footballer, Socrates, for whom the award is named after and was inaugurated just last year.