Sophia Omotola Omidiji
Picture at camp with Nigeria U20 National team September 2015.
Personal information
Full name Sophia Omotola Omidiji
Date of birth (1997-06-18) June 18, 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Height 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
S.B.V. Excelsior
Youth career
2013–2015 Las Vegas Premier Sports Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 PSV/FC Eindhoven 20 (18)
2016–2017 KAA Gent 20 (15)
2017–2018 S.B.V. Excelsior 18 (8)
2018– FC RDC 15 (25)
Total 73 (66)
International career
2013– Nigeria U-20 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of May 15, 2017

Sophia Omotola Omidiji (born June 18, 1997) is a Nigerian-American football player. She played for the Nigerian U-20 Women National team and is signed to Dutch Division I Club S.B.V. Excelsior after completing a switch from KAA Gent in Belgium in June 2017.

Early life

Sophia Omotola Omidiji was born on June 18, 1997, and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, by a Nigerian father and an American mother. She has three younger brothers and began playing football at the age of six.[1] Omidiji played high school football for Sierra Vista High School where she is the all-time leading goal scorer with 98 goals in four seasons including scoring 38 goals in her final season.[2] She played at the school including the school's first ever regional/State/NIAA Southern Nevada final.[3] She also played club soccer with Las Vegas Premier Sports Academy for coach Eyal Dahan.[4]

Playing career

PSV / FC EINDHOVEN

In August 2015, Omidiji signed with PSV/FC Eindhoven women's team in the Netherlands prior to going to camp with the Nigerian U20 women National team, .[5][6][7][8]

KAA GENT

In 2016, Sophia Omidiji transferred to KAA Gent which is a team that plays in the Belgium division I and played in 20 games and scored 18 goals with 12 assists.

S.B.V. Excelsior

In June 2017 Sophia Omidiji made the transfer from KAA Gent to S.B.V Excelsior which is a new addition to the Dutch Eredivisie which is the division I in the Netherlands.

International

Omidiji received her first national team call up with Nigeria women's national under-20 football team for an African world cup U-20 qualification game against Democratic Republic of Congo in an away game in Kinshasa.[9] She called the call up to the national team the "greatest honor of my life".[1]

She trained with the team in Abuja before heading to Kinshasa for the game against Congo where Nigeria won 2–1.[10][11]

She received a national team call up into the senior women's team the super falcons on April 2 for a friendly against France.[12]

Personal

World cup qualifiers preparation training in Abuja September 2015

Omidiji has 3 younger brothers named Lateef Omidiji Jr who played for the 2016-2017 current Dutch champions of the Netherlands: Feyenoord O15's,[13] Rasheed Omidiji who played for FC Den Bosch's O10's selection team, and Amir Omidiji who played for V.V Baronie's JY7's.

References

  1. ^ a b "Sophia Omotola Omidiji: "It is the greatest honour of my life to represent my Nation"". Women's Soccer United. October 21, 2015. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  2. ^ "Sierra Vista Girls Soccer". Nevada Preps. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Sierra Vista Girls Soccer". Nevada Preps. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  4. ^ "GotSoccer Team Detail". Got Soccer. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  5. ^ "Jong ADO Vrouwen wint ING Dames Beloften toernooi | ADO Den Haag Vrouwen" (in Dutch). Adovrouwen. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  6. ^ "Goede dag voor ADO Den Haag vrouwen – Haaglanden Voetbal". HaaglandenVoetbal.nl. August 16, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "Fotoarchief Chamid Media" (in Dutch). Sport Fotografie. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  8. ^ "Dubbele winst voor ADO Den Haag Vrouwen | ADO Power Vrouwen" (in Dutch). Adopowervrouwen. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  9. ^ "U-20 W/Cup: Falconets Sure Of Victory Over DR Congo". The Tide News Online. October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  10. ^ "Falconets leave for Kinshasa". Punch NG. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  11. ^ "Female U20: US-based Nigerian invited by NFF -". The Eagle Online. April 15, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  12. ^ "Exclusive: Holland Based Sophia Omidiji Gets Super Falcons Call Up For France Friendly - Soccer Assembly". www.soccerassembly.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "Feyenoord troeft Engelse topclubs af en trekt Omidiji (13) aan". www.fr12.nl (in Dutch). March 30, 2017. Retrieved June 19, 2017.