Women’s World Cup: Top five Canadian players to watch against Nigeria

By Saheed Afolabi

Olympic champions, Canada will lock horns with Nigeria in their first game at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

In this piece, NigeriaFootball.ng will take a look at the top Canadian players who will be a thorn on the flesh of the Super Falcons.

Veteran midfielder, Sophie Schmidt has been a mainstay in the heart of Canada midfield. The Houston Dash player have represented Canada from the youth level and scored her first goal for the senior team at the 2007 World Cup against Ghana. Schmidt holds the record of the highest capped Canada player with 221 caps. The former FFC Frankfurt player is known for her swinging passes if not curbed by the Falcons will create chances.

Julia Grosso’s mobility in the middle of the pack will be troublesome to Nigeria. At 22 years, She’s gifted with the creativity and technique to open up play and create chances which will be worrisome to the Falcons defense.

Adrana Leone will be banking on her experience in the English Women’s Super League for Manchester United to take on the Falcons. The speedy attacker is known for her tricks down the flanks. Leone will be a threat for the Nigeria fullbacks.

Simi Awujo, is a young midfielder that her roots can be traced to Nigeria. Born in the USA to Nigeria parents, decided to donn the colors of Canada due to her mother’s citizenship. The young midfielder earned her first call up to the senior national team in August 2022 and made her debut on the third of September 2022. She would be a handful of threat to Nigeria considering her meteoric growth and good passing range.

Vanessa Gilles, a tough tackling defender who plays top level football for Lyon in France will stand tall to prevent the attacking threat posed by Asisat Oshoala, Ifeoma Onumonu and others in the battle to claim the three points at stake. Gilles has been an influential figure in the Canadian team and she was part of the squad that won gold at the Olympics.

Coming on the back of surprisingly winning the 2020 Olympics, Canada will want to prove to the world that it wasn’t a fluke as they take on African giant, Nigeria on July 21 at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.