Oshoala stars as Falcons hammer Mali 6-0

England-based forward Asisat Oshoala scored four goals as  Nigeria swept past Mali 6-0 to  get off  their African Women’s Africa Cup of Nations  title defence  on a flying start  at Cameroon  2016 on Sunday.

United States-based attacker Francisca Ordega opened the scoring for the  seven-time African champions   in the 21st  minute  after finishing off Ugo Njoku’s effort.

 Namibia 2014 African Woman Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player of the tournament Oshoala took over from there by  capitalising  on a defensive mix-up in the Malian defence  to send the ball into the net for the Super Falcons’ second goal.


Nigeria grew in confidence in the encounter after the goal  as their opponents made a series of defensive blunders.

Uchechi Sunday, who missed a good chance to make it three for Nigeria minutes into the second stanza,  put her name on the scoresheet  after converting from the spot  after Osarenoma Igbinovia was brought down in the box.

The game  became an Oshoala  affair  as the Arsenal Ladies forward in the 62nd minute latched onto a header by Chioma  Wogu to  ghost past a defender  before smashing the ball past  Mali  goalkeeper Goundo for the fourth goal.

Oshoala  scored her fourth of the game and Nigeria’s sixth from a  good  pass by captain Rita  Chikwelu  in the  79th  minute.

The Falcons face stronger opponents  on Wednesday when they  clash against   their bitter rivals Ghana, who beat Kenya 3-1 in the other Group B fixture.

Oshoala credited her  teammates for the victory, saying she had her sights set on winning the title for the country.

“It is not about Asisat Oshoala, rather the whole Nigerian team,” the 22-year-old told Cafonline after the game.

 “I did not come with a target in mind to win the Most Valuable Player or the top scorer, rather to make my country  proud. And also to show the rest of Africa that we are still around and this is the only way to make that statement.”

Nigeria coach Florence Omagbemi said, “This is our first game and we are in the process of finding our feet. We are through with Mali and looking forward to Ghana. Our focus is to defend our trophy and we have just started.”

 Her Mali  counterpart Oumar Guindo lamented the huge defeat  suffered  by his team at the hands of Nigeria.