Nigeria striker Uchenna Kanu seeks first title in America with Racing Louisville

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria forward Uchenna Kanu will attempt to win her first title when North Carolina Courage and Racing Louisville face off in the final of the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Challenge Cup final on Saturday.

After helping the Super Falcons to the knockout stage of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the former UANL Tigres player returned to the United States of America (USA) to stake a claim at the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup at the WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary.

Her only competitive goal for the team came in the tournament during her team’s 2-0 win over Chicago Red Star on June 1, 2023.

Racing Louisville finished second from the Central Group behind Kansas City Current and made it to the semi-final as the best-ranked second-placed team.

North Carolina attacker Brianna Pinto scored the lone goal in her team’s 1-0 semifinal win over the Current in Kansas City on Wednesday night.

Louisville forward Kirsten Davis scored the winner in the semifinals with a 28th-minute strike for her fourth goal of 2023, but her first in this season’s Challenge Cup.

The North Carolina Courage are headed to a UKG NWSL Challenge Cup Final for the second-straight season, this time where they will face Racing Louisville FC.

In terms of Head-to-Head, North Carolina Courage are the favourite after winning the last five encounters between both sides.

The last meeting ended 1-0 in favour of Courage with Tyler Lussi scoring the winning goal on June 15, 2023.

A win for Racing will end the dominance of Courage in recent times and seal the first title for the underdogs.