Afrigather Nigeria will on Wednesday, July 17, commerce tackles with Canada’s ladies nationwide group in Seville, Spain, within the Tremendous Falcons’ remaining pleasant match earlier than heading to France for the 2024 Paris Olympic Video games.
Reigning Olympic champions are coming off a effective 2-1 victory over Australia on the Marbella Soccer Middle in San Pedro de Alcántara.
A sure Simi Awujo began that recreation, making her 18th look for Canada, and impressed earlier than she was changed within the second half.
If Canada’s coach Beverly Priestman sticks to the identical beginning lineup towards Nigeria on Wednesday, Awujo will possible take to the pitch with combined emotions, as she might have been a Tremendous Falcon had circumstances aligned in another way.
Who’s Simi Awujo?
Simisola Feyishayo Awujo was born on September 23, 2003, in Atlanta, Georgia, in america to Nigerian dad and mom of Yoruba extraction – Dr. Akinwole Awujo a Medical Physician, and Dr. Mrs. Shola Okuwa-Awujo a Pharmacist.
Together with her father holding American citizenship and her mom Canadian citizenship, Awujo set out in her early soccer life understanding she might play for any of those three nations.
The second baby in her household, Simi was raised to mix her research with sports activities, excelling in all.
An undergraduate at Southern California College with hopes of changing into a Paediatric Surgeon, Simi additionally received honours with the varsity’s 4×100 and 4×400 relay groups earlier than she settled for soccer.
Once more, the teenager excelled and was chosen to symbolize america U17 at a UEFA Ladies’s Growth Match within the Czech Republic in 2019.
Nonetheless, Canada satisfied her to dump america and in 2022 she was a part of the nation’s group to the 2022 CONCACAF Ladies’s U-20 Championship and the 2022 FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup.
Simi, who would later research Laptop Science and Enterprise Administration, and Canada confronted Nigeria within the group stage of that World Cup match in Costa Rica.
By the point the 2 groups met contained in the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela on August 18, Nigeria had already certified for the quarterfinals following their victories over France and Korea Republic U20.
Canada already had their luggage packed and able to fly dwelling as they’d misplaced their two matches.
Nonetheless, Nigeria confirmed no mercy to Canada – Simi Awujo began the encounter carrying jersey quantity 13 – with the Falconets powering to a convincing 3-1, thanks partially to an Esther Onyenezide brace.
Canada know high quality once they see one and in September 2022, Simi made her debut for the Canucks.
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After successful the ladies’s 2022 Canada Soccer Younger Participant of the Yr, Simi then scored her first senior worldwide objective on December 1, 2023, in a 5–0 victory in a pleasant towards Australia.
Nonetheless a agency lover of Nigerian jollof, a Nigerian meals delicacy most well-liked by tens of millions all around the world to Ghanaian Jollof, Simi brings vitality, bodily presence, and flavour to Canada’s midfielder.
The 20-year-old will, on Wednesday, look to check how far she has come towards Nigeria’s Deborah Abiodun and Oluwatosin Demehin, who have been in that victorious Falconets facet and have now turn out to be a mainstay within the Tremendous Falcons group.
In Marbella, Spain, nonetheless, Eighth-ranked Canada shall be favourites to beat Thirty sixth-ranked Nigeria in a closed-door coaching match.
Whereas Nigeria’s Falconets have a 100 per cent win document towards their Canadian U20 counterparts, the Canada senior group holds a greater head-to-head document towards the Tremendous Falcons.
Nigeria have received one, misplaced two, and drawn three of their earlier six video games towards Canada. Each groups performed out a goalless draw within the group stage of final 12 months’s FIFA World Cup, with goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie excellently stopping a second-half penalty from Christine Sinclair.
For Nigeria, this pleasant is nothing however a buildup recreation to fine-tune the methods they’ve labored on throughout their coaching marketing campaign in Spain.
For Simi, although, it could imply greater than that. It will be an opportunity to get her level of flesh from Nigeria and present she made the suitable alternative taking part in for Canada, and never the birthplace of her beloved dad and mom.
