Liverpool forward Asisat Oshoala was last night named the BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year.
The award, in its inaugural year, was voted for by BBC World Service listeners, and is the first of its kind hosted by a global broadcaster.
The 20-year-old Nigerian beat a shortlist of players to the honour that included Verónica Boquete (Frankfurt/Spain), Nadine Kessler (Wolfsburg/Germany), Marta (Rosengard/Brazil) and Kim Little (Seattle Reign/Scotland).
Speaking after the result was announced Oshoala said: “I would like to say thank you to the BBC, to my fans around the world and to everyone who voted.”
The striker will now fly out to Canada to compete in the World Cup with her national team after helping the Under 20’s reach the final last summer, scoring seven goals in six matches.
Oshoala has already won the African Women’s Championship with the senior Nigerian team in October this year and said her latest award was a big lift for her side ahead of the World Cup next month.
“It’s a really good thing for us as a team because we now know that we have something great and now we want to go at the trophy,” she said. “We can do it, we did it in 2014 we can also do it this year as well.
“There is going to be a lot of motivation for women’s football in Nigeria now because of this award because there are a lot of fans out there.
“Support for women’s football in Nigeria is now growing very high.”
Mary Hockaday, controller of BBC World Service English, paid her tributes to Oshoala, saying:
“At still only 20, she’s proved herself a formidable talent on the pitch.
“I’m proud BBC World Service is supporting the women’s game and thrilled with the interest in the award.”
