Falcons Skipper Oshoala scores, makes ESPN Top 50 Best Players list

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.

Sam Mewis
Club/country: Manchester City/United States
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder

Sam Kerr
Club/country: Chelsea/Australia
Age: 27
Position: Forward

Vivianne Miedema
Club/country: Arsenal/Netherlands
Age: 24
Position: Forward

Pernille Harder
Club/country: Chelsea/Denmark
Age: 28
Position: Forward

Lucy Bronze
Club/country: Manchester City/England
Age: 29
Position: Defender

Crystal Dunn
Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States
Age: 28
Position: Defender

Dzsenifer Marozsan
Club/country: Lyon/Germany
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder

Julie Ertz
Club/country: Chicago Red Stars/United States
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder

Caroline Graham Hansen
Club/country: Barcelona/Norway
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder

Debinha
Club/country: North Carolina Courage/Brazil
Age: 29
Position: Forward

Wendie Renard
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 30
Position: Defender

Fran Kirby
Club/country: Chelsea/England
Age: 27
Position: Forward

Tobin Heath
Club/country: Manchester United/United States
Age: 32
Position: Midfielder

Saki Kumagai
Club/country: Lyon/Japan
Age: 30
Position: Midfielder

Rose Lavelle
Club/country: Manchester City/United States
Age: 25
Position: Midfielder

Amandine Henry
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 31
Position: Midfielder

Jennifer Hermoso
Club/country: Barcelona/Spain
Age: 30
Position: Forward

Ji So-Yun
Club/country: Chelsea/South Korea
Age: 30
Position: Midfielder

Marie-Antoinette Katoto
Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/France
Age: 22
Position: Forward

Eugenie Le Sommer
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 31
Position: Forward

Delphine Cascarino
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 24
Position: Midfielder

Alexia Putellas
Club/country: Barcelona/Spain
Age: 27
Position: Midfielder

Lindsey Horan
Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder

Alex Popp
Club/country: Wolfsburg/Germany
Age: 29
Position: Forward

Caroline Weir
Club/country: Manchester City/Scotland
Age: 25
Position: Midfielder

Christen Press
Club/country: Manchester United/United States
Age: 32
Position: Forward

Asisat Oshoala
Club/country: Barcelona/Nigeria
Age: 26
Position: Forward

Lieke Martens
Club/country: Barcelona/Netherlands
Age: 28
Position: Forward

Abby Dahlkemper
Club/country: Manchester City/United States
Age: 27
Position: Defender

Christiane Endler
Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/Chile
Age: 29
Position: Goalkeeper

Khadija Shaw
Club/country: Bordeaux/Jamaica
Age: 24
Position: Forward

Amel Majri
Club/country: Lyon/France
Age: 28
Position: Midfielder

Kadeisha Buchanan
Club/country: Lyon/Canada
Age: 25
Position: Defender

Magdalena Eriksson
Club/country: Chelsea/Sweden
Age: 27
Position: Defender

Marta
Club/country: Orlando Pride/Brazil
Age: 35
Position: Forward

Kadidiatou Diani
Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/France
Age: 25
Position: Forward

Melanie Leupolz
Club/country: Chelsea/Germany
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder

Alex Morgan
Club/country: Orlando Pride/United States
Age: 31
Position: Forward

Kim Little
Club/country: Arsenal/Scotland
Age: 30
Position: Midfielder

Megan Rapinoe
Club/country: OL Reign/United States
Age: 35
Position: Forward

Cristiana Girelli
Club/country: Juventus/Italy
Age: 30
Position: Forward

Beth England
Club/country: Chelsea/England
Age: 26
Position: Forward

Ewa Pajor
Club/country: Wolfsburg/Poland
Age: 24
Position: Forward

Lena Goessling
Club/country: Wolfsburg/Germany
Age: 35
Position: Midfielder

Becky Sauerbrunn
Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States
Age: 35
Position: Defender

Steph Houghton
Club/country: Manchester City/England
Age: 32
Position: Defender

Kosovare Asllani
Club/country: Real Madrid/Sweden
Age: 31
Position: Forward

Danielle van de Donk
Club/country: Arsenal/Netherlands
Age: 29
Position: Midfielder

Jackie Groenen
Club/country: Manchester United/Netherlands
Age: 26
Position: Midfielder

Ellen White
Club/country: Manchester City/England
Age: 31
Position: Forward


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