She came. She saw. She conquered. Rasheedat Ajibade is the TotalEnergies WAFCON 2024 Woman of the Tournament after guiding Nigeria to their 10th record-extending title.
Captain fantastic in every aspect, the 25-year-old Ajibade has been instrumental in inspiring the Super Falcons to a historic achievement – winning 10 of 13 editions. Magical even.
From the opening whistle to the final game, she stood tall even when the odds looked like they were against her. Just like the leader that she is, she displayed her relentlessness and embraced the moment and never looked back.
When she was invited to the photoshoot with the new WAFCON trophy prior to the start of the tournament at the iconic Hassan II Tower, she looked at it and promised herself that Nigeria would lift this beautiful crown. It is that will to gather her troops every time that they walked onto the field that led her to this moment – the moment where Nigeria once again, conquered Africa.
Vocal on and off the field, Ajibade has shown her quality every time that she has stepped onto the field of play. The blue-haired girl from Lagos poured her heart into this campaign, often seen urging her teammates to stay locked in even if it helps that they are already motivated.
When her team needed a spark, she lit it. In whatever role she was assigned, she scanned for spaces occasionally, made passes in the tighest of angles and kept Nigeria’s opponents guessing. She exploited the athleticism of her team in ways that came face-to-face with the weaknesses of their opponents and with that, she dictated the tempo of each game.
She earned three Woman of the Match Awards against Botswana, Zambia and South Africa while finding the back of the net once – a penalty against South Africa’s Andile Dlamini who was yet to score until that point.
This is the second time that Ajibade is being awarded at the WAFCON after she walked away with the Joint Top Scorer Award at the 2022 edition – tied with Ghizlane Chebbak of Morocco and South Africa’s Hildah Magaia.
(Reporting from CAF Online)