On a day she scored FC Barcelona’s 100th goal in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) during their 3-0 win over English side, Manchester City in the quarter-final first-leg tie played in Barcelona on Wednesday, Super Falcons star, Asisat Oshoala, also made the list of ESPN’s world Top 50 players.

Oshoala who scored the first goal for Barcelona in the 35th minute off Mariona Caldentey assist, is the No. 27 in the list of world best women’s footballer as compiled by the authoritative United States (US) media outfit, ESPN.

According to ESPN, “Oshoala is probably Africa’s most accomplished female footballer, having won the CAF Women’s Player of the Year award four times, the latest in 2019.

“That was the year she signed with Barcelona, where she’s since won four titles and a UEFA Women’s Champions League runners-up medal. Oshoala is exceedingly accurate inside the penalty area and is always the teammate you want taking the final touch. Oshoala has continued to impress for the Catalan giants, averaging a goal per game since arriving in Spain, and now that Nigeria have reiterated their status as the premier women’s side on the continent, Oshoala is undeniably their premier player”, says Lindsay du Plessis of ESPN who wrote her profile.

Meanwhile, the U.S. women players featured heavily on the first-ever ESPN FC Women’s Ranking, though there’s tough competition all over the globe for top honors in the ESPN compilation.

While 2020 might have thrown everything it could in the way of women’s soccer, leagues and clubs fought to get players back on the pitch and give us enthralling matches while we were all stuck at home. In 2021, global excitement around the game is at an all-time high.

The National Women’s Soccer League in the U.S. is on the cusp of returning in all its glory — beginning on April 9 — while in Europe, there are some nail-biting league races as well as big ties ahead in the latter stages of the year.

According to a statement from ESPN, “some of the stars on the list played full season in 2020, while others are just getting back into the swing of things after leagues were suspended. It was important to our panel that individual achievement and talent were recognized outside of winning cups and trophies.

Below are the inaugural Top 50 women’s players rank.

Sam Mewis Club/country: Manchester City/United States Age: 28 Position: Midfielder

Sam Kerr Club/country: Chelsea/Australia Age: 27 Position: Forward

Vivianne Miedema Club/country: Arsenal/Netherlands Age: 24 Position: Forward

Pernille Harder Club/country: Chelsea/Denmark Age: 28 Position: Forward

Lucy Bronze Club/country: Manchester City/England Age: 29 Position: Defender

Crystal Dunn Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States Age: 28 Position: Defender

Dzsenifer Marozsan Club/country: Lyon/Germany Age: 28 Position: Midfielder

Julie Ertz Club/country: Chicago Red Stars/United States Age: 28 Position: Midfielder

Caroline Graham Hansen Club/country: Barcelona/Norway Age: 26 Position: Midfielder

Debinha Club/country: North Carolina Courage/Brazil Age: 29 Position: Forward

Wendie Renard Club/country: Lyon/France Age: 30 Position: Defender

Fran Kirby Club/country: Chelsea/England Age: 27 Position: Forward

Tobin Heath Club/country: Manchester United/United States Age: 32 Position: Midfielder

Saki Kumagai Club/country: Lyon/Japan Age: 30 Position: Midfielder

Rose Lavelle Club/country: Manchester City/United States Age: 25 Position: Midfielder

Amandine Henry Club/country: Lyon/France Age: 31 Position: Midfielder

Jennifer Hermoso Club/country: Barcelona/Spain Age: 30 Position: Forward

Ji So-Yun Club/country: Chelsea/South Korea Age: 30 Position: Midfielder

Marie-Antoinette Katoto Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/France Age: 22 Position: Forward

Eugenie Le Sommer Club/country: Lyon/France Age: 31 Position: Forward

Delphine Cascarino Club/country: Lyon/France Age: 24 Position: Midfielder

Alexia Putellas Club/country: Barcelona/Spain Age: 27 Position: Midfielder

Lindsey Horan Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States Age: 26 Position: Midfielder

Alex Popp Club/country: Wolfsburg/Germany Age: 29 Position: Forward

Caroline Weir Club/country: Manchester City/Scotland Age: 25 Position: Midfielder

Christen Press Club/country: Manchester United/United States Age: 32 Position: Forward

Asisat Oshoala Club/country: Barcelona/Nigeria Age: 26 Position: Forward

Lieke Martens Club/country: Barcelona/Netherlands Age: 28 Position: Forward

Abby Dahlkemper Club/country: Manchester City/United States Age: 27 Position: Defender

Christiane Endler Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/Chile Age: 29 Position: Goalkeeper

Khadija Shaw Club/country: Bordeaux/Jamaica Age: 24 Position: Forward

Amel Majri Club/country: Lyon/France Age: 28 Position: Midfielder

Kadeisha Buchanan Club/country: Lyon/Canada Age: 25 Position: Defender

Magdalena Eriksson Club/country: Chelsea/Sweden Age: 27 Position: Defender

Marta Club/country: Orlando Pride/Brazil Age: 35 Position: Forward

Kadidiatou Diani Club/country: Paris Saint-Germain/France Age: 25 Position: Forward

Melanie Leupolz Club/country: Chelsea/Germany Age: 26 Position: Midfielder

Alex Morgan Club/country: Orlando Pride/United States Age: 31 Position: Forward

Kim Little Club/country: Arsenal/Scotland Age: 30 Position: Midfielder

Megan Rapinoe Club/country: OL Reign/United States Age: 35 Position: Forward

Cristiana Girelli Club/country: Juventus/Italy Age: 30 Position: Forward

Beth England Club/country: Chelsea/England Age: 26 Position: Forward

Ewa Pajor Club/country: Wolfsburg/Poland Age: 24 Position: Forward

Lena Goessling Club/country: Wolfsburg/Germany Age: 35 Position: Midfielder

Becky Sauerbrunn Club/country: Portland Thorns/United States Age: 35 Position: Defender

Steph Houghton Club/country: Manchester City/England Age: 32 Position: Defender

Kosovare Asllani Club/country: Real Madrid/Sweden Age: 31 Position: Forward

Danielle van de Donk Club/country: Arsenal/Netherlands Age: 29 Position: Midfielder

Jackie Groenen Club/country: Manchester United/Netherlands Age: 26 Position: Midfielder

Ellen White Club/country: Manchester City/England Age: 31 Position: Forward

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