Super Falcons striker Asisat Oshoala and former Nigeria international Perpetual Nkwocha have been named among the 25 best African athletes of the 21st century by ESPN.
Other Nigerians on the list include Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) stars Israel Adesanya and Kamaru Usman and American football star Osi Umenyiora.
The list also includes football legends Samuel Eto’o, Yaya Toure, Didier Drogba, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. Famous athletes such as Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia), Caster Semenya (South Africa), Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) and Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) also participated.
Regarding Oshoala, ESPN highlighted: “Oshoala, who currently plays for Bay FC in the NWSL, has taken African women’s soccer to new heights. The Nigerian striker has been named African Player of the Year six times, mainly due to her five outstanding seasons with Barcelona.
“Her 92 league goals for Barca came at a rate of around one every 65 minutes. There, she won the Spanish Primera Division four times and the UEFA Women’s Champions League three times. For Nigeria, he has been part of the Super Falcons team that won the African title three times and is set to represent the Super Falcons again at the Paris Olympics.”
On her remarks about Adesanya: “Born in Lagos, though he moved to New Zealand at the age of 10 after a brief stint living in Ghana, Adesanya dominated the UFC middleweight division from 2019-2022, eventually losing to Alex Pereira in November 2022 before winning. him in a rematch five months later.
“Adesanya lost his belt again to Sean Strickland later that year, but has a chance to win it back against South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis at UFC 305 on August 17 in Perth.
Adesanya will be 35 by the time this fight takes place, but whether or not he dethrones du Plessis (30), he will go down in history as one of the sport’s greatest ever, fulfilling ESPN’s prophecy of him as the “next great thing. “
The global sports outfit described Nkwocha as prolific in front of goal.
“A prolific scoring average who won Africa five times with a dominant Nigerian side, former Super Falcons captain Nkwocha has made a name for herself in Sweden both as a player at Sunnanå SK and as a coach at Clemensnäs IF.
“Nkwocha combined dazzling dribbling skills with ruthless efficiency in front of goal to etch her name into the history books as one of the greatest African footballers of all time.”