Rinsola Babajide has expressed her joy after getting her first call-up to Nigeria’s Super Falcons.
Babajide, who plays for Tenerife in the Spanish women’s league, was included in the Falcons squad for their Paris 2024 Olympic Games second round qualifiers against Ethiopia.
Reacting to her maiden invitation, the 25-year-old said she is delighted with the love shown to her by Nigerians.
“The love I’ve been feeling has been very overwhelming , thank you so much. Grateful & blessed for this opportunity 🥹🙏🏾🇳🇬 #Honoured,” she wrote on her X.
The Falcons will be guests to Ethiopia for the first-leg billed for Wednesday, 25 October, 2023.
On Tuesday, 31 October, the Falcons will entertain the Ethiopians.
Among the players invited for the doubleheader clash include Chiamaka Nnadozie, Asisat Oshoala, Rasheedat Ajibade, Halimatu Ayinde and Michelle Alozie.
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Also invited are Toni and Nicole Payne, Ifeoma Onumonu, Gift Monday, Christy Ucheibe, Tosin Demehin, Osinachi Ohale and Uchenna Kanu.
Born in London, Babajide joined Millwall Lionesses Ladies from Crystal Palace Ladies in January 2015, but made her professional debut on March 18 against the London Bees in a FA WSL match which ended in a draw.
Before her move to Tenerife on 3 July 2023, she featured for Liverpool, Watford, Brighton and Hove Albion and Real Betis.
She was Liverpool’s second highest goal scorer in the 2018/19 WSL season with two campaign goals.
Babajide was then Liverpool’s joint-second WSLgoal scorer in the 2019/20 season with one single league goal.
From 2016 to 2019 she played for England’s U-19, U-20 and U-21.
In August 2018, Babajide was part of the England U-20 squad that claimed bronze at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Also in September 2020 she was included in a training camp for the England senior team.
11 Comments
Our female foreign born have soft minds to change allegiance to Nigeria than male foreign born, most especially in England and USA
You’re right @Afuye. It appears our foreign-born female footballers are more patriotic. No long persuasions and begging, nah them dey queue up and rush us. If nah male foreign-born ballers now, NFF president go first fly to visit am and take pictures with am while preaching to him, then the coach will start chasing him up and down on the phone while Mr Eze, Saka, Olise, Tammy, Tomori, Musiala, or Adarabioyo would be playing hanky-panky.
The at the last miute you would see them called up to the French, German or English national team, especially with Mr African talent poacher and destroyer, Northgate as ‘coach’. Actually, I think that’s his only talent – poaching African players.
Northgate is highly skilled in the dark arts of poaching African players. If you blink, the player you are chasing is gone.
Looks like Ghana can finally wave goodbye to Nketiah, thanks to Northgate.
Tella that has declared his allegiance for Nigeria, na so we go dey mumu until Northgate strikes.
Look at Eze now. After just one cap, I don’t think it’s even up to one cap. Call it a half cap. Northgate used him just once and now he’s nowhere to be found. International football may be over for Ebere.
Eze is now attending the school of hard knocks. A cautionary tale for others.
Chai. Wetin be Northgate lol… He is stepping down next year sha
Hahahaha @Pompei, the guy is always watching out with eagle eyes to cap and drop any top African talent so as to weaken their ability to compete at the global level, but we continue to rise, nonetheless. He has kept Saka cos that one is a goldfish. Imagine Tammy hoping to snap up the number 9 shirt from homeboy Kane. He’s now in the international football wilderness, good only for friendlies and games against Estonia and Luxembourg. Oya, so pe otilo. E don go. Lol.
I’ll always celebrate any win against the English national team (male or female), even though we are historically closer.
Judging by how patriotic Nigerian ladies are,I believe the Olympics gold medals in soccer could be actualised pretty soon and not forgetting that the pendulum of the next Mundial could spring in favour of the Super Falcons if there would be adequate preparations in that regard.Kudosto you girls, keep on excelling .
Should We Celebrate Players Who ‘Fall Back’ To Nigeria After Missing Out on Their Country of Choice?
I had been tracking this lady for sometime now but gave up because there were no indications on either side (player and West African country) that she was willing to jump ship.
I think coach Sarena Wiegman dropped the ball in this one. The 25 year old striker, who famously scored 14 goals in just one match in her University days, would have been a worthy addition to the Lionesses (more so as they are currently sinking in the Quicksand of Olympics women’s football qualification failure).
Against Netherlands in their 2:1 Olympics qualifier loss, this sort of Anglo-Nigerian striker could have provided some thrust – with her speed and the strength of her physicality – and some cutting edge (with the strength of her goal scoring intellect).
But now Nigeria has her.
She was in the plans of former England Women’s coach Phil Neville and she had a realistic hope of representing Great Britain Soccer team at the 2020 Olympics but nothing came of it.
Her dreams might yet come true with the Super Falcons in Paris next summer.
Her game has developed with her technique improving all the time. She trained in athletics as a sprinter too and brought that pace with her to the football field, quickly becoming an unstoppable winger with great feet, timing and a finish to match in particular in her time at Liverpool where she framed her game along the lines of Sadio Mane’s style.
She can now play, as to the manner born, in any attacking position.
I watched one clip for Liverpool where she cut in from the left wing, bobbing and weaving past 5 defenders before gyrating into the 18 yard box to dink a deft finish past the despairing goalkeeper. It was a fine display of a fantastic finish from a fabulous Forward.
Make no mistake, she has the quality of making the England squad. But, truth be told, now at age 25, the World Cup Runners up will now be looking to a younger, more vibrant generation of strikers. If you don’t break into that team before 24 years, your chances start to diminish as a Celestial Church prayer candle.
But we don’t mind, Ifeoma Onumonu is knocking the door of 30. So, if RB is still playing at a high level, she will feature for us for the next 4 to 8 years.
For those of us Nigeria fans celebrating to the high heavens of her choice, think of this: In 2020 when she had a realistic chance of going to the Olympics with Team GB, it is debatable whether she would have considered us which for me is perfectly understandable.
Still, I think her inclusion is nonetheless a coup and I welcome her with open arms despite the fact that we may have been her second choice.
Deo, Deo, Deo, how many times did I write your name lol? This your line “Her dreams might yet come true with the Super Falcons in Paris next summer” appears to be a foregone conclusion we are already in Paris.
This is Nigeria oh that is not afraid to press the sabotage button. I beg, wanyo wanyo. When we were Africa’s number 1, we did not grace multiple Olympic events.
Someone said “NFF onigbese”. They still dey glass house oh. Who is Falcons coach? Who drafted the list?
We all loved falcons at the FWWC but they have not played one match since then.
Is it right to blood new female players in a competitive game when friendlies windows were untouched?
My head desires them to succeed but would NFF ensure it?
This is not a road less traveled even.
Our national teams are brimming with exciting talents now but who are their managers? Technical committee?
Hi Sly,
Your grave concerns about the risk of Nigeria not qualifying for the 2024 Olympics is, for me, not at all misplaced.
Yes, Nigeria has not qualified for the Olympics Women’s Soccer event in recent times but it is actually a little bit more serious than that.
Worryingly as a Nigerian, but paradoxically at the same time comforting as an African, I think we are witnessing an iron curtain of giant killings in African women’s football of late.
The first casualty were the great Cameroon who were killed off by Kenya in last month’s Wafcon qualifiers. As the continent was still reeling from this seismic shock, it was the turn of Ivory Coast to be trampled upon before being torn apart by Tanzania in the same round of qualifiers.
With teams like Guinea and Togo returning 11 and 13 unrequited goals respectively in the same round of qualifiers, the frontiers of traditional super powers in women’s football in the tournament is definitely being rolled back.
The question now is, who will be next?
I rejoiced with much happiness when Bankole Olowookere Nigeria U-17 Women’s team won bronze in last year’s Fifa World Cup – they were agonisingly close to clinching silver or gold. But we were so close to never making it to the world cup in the first place.
Ethiopia pushed Bankole’s babes to the brink of qualification failure save for a contentious solo goal on home soil from the irrepressible Opeyemi Ajakaye across 2 legs. Before that last match, Bankole’s babes had scored 14 goals in 4 games against Congo and Egypt; they were to find their Ethiopian counterparts a tougher bowl of Akara and Eko to swallow.
This same Ethiopia senior women’s national team are undefeated in open play in their last 4 games, scoring 12 goals in the process and conceding only 2.
Shouldn’t the NFF have used the last women’s international window to prepare Nigeria for this tough challenge by speedily arranging a last minute friendly following the withdrawal of São Tomé and Príncipe in Afcon qualifiers?
Will that decision not potentially capable of coming back to bite the Super Falcons in the backside?
Cameroon and Ivory Coast have used kids gloves to battle erstwhile underdogs in African women’s football and it had not gone well for them.
I only hope the Super Falcons are not treading on the same perilous path!
Are Super Falcons Going To Be A Casualty of Giant KILLERS?
The concerns mooted in certain quarters about the risk of Nigeria not qualifying for the 2024 Olympics is, for me, well grounded.
Yes, Nigeria has not qualified for the Olympics Women’s Soccer event in recent times but it is actually a little bit more serious than that.
Worryingly as a Nigerian, but paradoxically at the same time comforting as an African, I think we are witnessing an iron curtain of giant killings in African women’s football of late.
The first casualty were the great Cameroon who were killed off by Kenya in last month’s Wafcon qualifiers. As the continent was still reeling from this seismic shock, it was the turn of Ivory Coast to be trampled upon before being torn apart by Tanzania in the same round of qualifiers.
With teams like Guinea and Togo returning 11 and 13 unrequited goals respectively in the same round of qualifiers, the frontiers of traditional super powers in women’s football in the tournament is definitely being rolled back.
The question now is, who will be next?
I rejoiced with much happiness when Bankole Olowookere Nigeria U-17 Women’s team won bronze in last year’s Fifa World Cup – they were agonisingly close to clinching silver or gold. But we were so close to never making it to the world cup in the first place.
Ethiopia pushed Bankole’s babes to the brink of qualification failure save for a contentious solo goal on home soil from the irrepressible Opeyemi Ajakaye across 2 legs. Before that last match, Bankole’s babes had scored 14 goals in 4 games against Congo and Egypt; they were to find their Ethiopian counterparts a tougher bowl of Akara and Eko to swallow.
This same Ethiopia senior women’s national team are undefeated in open play in their last 4 games, scoring 12 goals in the process and conceding only 2.
Shouldn’t the NFF have used the last women’s international window to prepare Nigeria for this tough challenge by speedily arranging a last minute friendly following the withdrawal of São Tomé and Príncipe in Afcon qualifiers?
Will that decision not potentially capable of coming back to bite the Super Falcons in the backside?
Cameroon and Ivory Coast have used kids gloves to battle erstwhile underdogs in African women’s football and it had not gone well for them.
I only hope the Super Falcons are not treading on the same perilous path!
Eze goes to school. The school of hard knocks.
Northgate, abeg epp Eze and invite him again. Give HALF CAP EZE another half cap, so he can at least have a full cap. It’s not good for Eze to be going around with half cap on his head! Half cap waka e no good ooo!