My Parents Didn’t Support Me Playing Football – Oshoala

Four-time African Women’s Footballer of the Year, Asisat Oshola, says she never had the support of her parents playing football while growing up in Lagos.

Oshoala is part of UEFA’s Together #WePlayStrong women’s football campaign, which kicked off on Tuesday.

In a video documentary posted on the campaign’s Instagram page, the 25-year-old talked about her road to stardom and the lack of support from her parents.

She said, “Talking about my journey of football right from the beginning, I started with my friends in school and I was just doing it for fun.

“It became something that I liked to do more often and after school hours I would play football before I go home. My parents were always complaining that I came home late after school hours. When I finished school, I had like almost months doing nothing, so I just spoke with my parents (that) maybe they could just allow me to play for fun and nothing serious.

“From there I played in a tournament, then I was discovered by one of the teams and they told me they wanted me. But I said I didn’t want to play professional football, but they said “no” because I have the qualities.

“I said my parents were not going to allow me to do that, so they shouldn’t bother trying. My parents never supported me; the only person who was supportive was my grandmother. She was the only one who was there. Even when my dad and mum wanted to beat me because I went to play football, she was the only one who would support and give me food.”

Oshoala would go on to play for Robo FC and River Angels in Nigeria before joining Liverpool Ladies in England.

She joined Barcelona last January, initially on loan, and has flourished this season, scoring 20 goals in 19 appearances before the coronavirus outbreak.