Avaldsnes IL of Norway attacker, Rasheedat Ajibade is still relishing the joy of clocking 20, as the former FC Robo Queens of Lagos whiz-kid says she feels good adding another year to her age, and she went on to give profound thanks to God for making it possible.
Megasportsarena.com reports that her 20th birthday was actually on Sunday, but Ajibade is still relishing the delight she had with friends and family, as they gathered to celebrate with the Norwegian Toppserien sensation, who was a key player in Nigeria’s female senior national side, Super Falcons’ squad to this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
It is another massive step forward for the precocious Ajibade, who first represented Nigeria at age grade competitions, with the under-17 and under-20 teams, before making her competitive debut for the senior team at the 2018 West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup in Côte d’Ivoire.
She started playing for FC Robo in 2013, a year after which she was listed as one of the best young talents in the Nigerian Women Football League (NWFL) and, in September 2018, she won the female football freestyle competition for the second consecutive edition.
For the 2017 season, Ajibade was appointed captain of FC Robo and, despite her team not being among the top finishers, she was voted best player of the championship, after she helped save her side from suffering relegation with her haul of eight goals, then signed a two-year contract with Norwegian Toppserien side, Avaldsnes in December 2018.
That came majorly for the marks she made in the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) in Ghana, just four years after she shot to limelight at the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, during which she scored the winning goal in Nigeria’s first game against China then notched one more in the final group game against Mexico, as the Flamingos sealed a quarter-finals’ ticket.
She was also in the next cadet squad for 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, where she donned jersey number 10 and was team captain, then got promoted quickly same year to star for the youth team, Falconets at the U-20 Women’s World Cup, during which she was named woman-of-the-match in the second group game against Canada.
Ajibade then made her marks again in Africa’s qualifiers 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, as she scored twice in the first leg 3-0 win away to Tanzania, then repeated the feat in a 6-0 win at home in the reverse fixture.
On 27 January 2018, Ajibade again scored two in Nigeria’s six goal win against South Africa, a win that confirmed Nigeria’s qualification for the 2018 U-20 Women’s World Cup in France, before which she was invited to the senior squad for the maiden WAFU Women’s Cup in Côte d’Ivoire and scored a hat-trick in the second group game to take Nigeria into the semi-final.
Same year, Ajibade was part of the Falcons’ AWCON glory, winning her first diadem at senior level, and the catapult that shot her out to her present base in Norway, where she celebrated her 20th birthday on Sunday, and took to social media with a commemorative message on her verified handle @Rasheedat08, which read: “GLORY BE TO GOD FOR AN ADDITIONAL YEAR.”
